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A listing in reverse chronological order of articles by:
With the Storm Packer Root Cause Analysis complete, the probable RCs will be known. The next step is to confirm causation of the failure. In Failure Simulation (FS) the goal is to confirm cause and effect. When more than one probable RC has been identified, the FS will consist of multiple simulation tasks. How extensive will the Storm Packer’s FS program be?
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In many ways, I am sure society is well aware of certain leadership principles that have stood the test of time in business environments. Personality traits such as integrity, honesty, and responsibility immediately come to mind; however, in a disruptive world, there are more that, many do not realize, are vital to professional success to find certainty.
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The information collected in the Storm Packer (SP) failure (Information) will establish:
When people think of problem-solving, their mind may instinctively jump to thoughts of things that are broken or things that need fixing.
Problem to most people is a matter or situation regarded as unwelcome or harmful and needing to be dealt with and overcome. [Read more…]
In failure analysis, the collection of information is a tedious but necessary step that determines success in the root cause analysis (RCA), simulation, and mitigation phases. In Article 2, the SME identified five areas of possible root causes for the SP failure, further explained in Table 1.
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Studies show most projects fail due to poor management of known risks. The known risks on a project are:
How to minimize the schedule risk on a project is addressed in this paper. The approach to do this is based on my 30 years of project and project risk management experience and knowledge.
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Effective execution is a matter of dealing with scarcity: a scarcity of time, a scarcity of resources, and scarcity of information (although too much information can also cause problems). Tools like a risk assessment help manage this scarcity by prioritizing things to allow you to better allocate resources on what’s most important.
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Analysis of the Storm Packer (SP) failure in Article 1 will be complicated. Some stakeholders will assume that the SP was defective, some will assume the drilling crew made mistakes, and others will assume that wellbore conditions predisposed the SP to fail. Any of these may explain the failure of the first SP, but only rigorous due diligence will uncover the root cause(s). What should be investigated, and what will be the roadmap for the analysis? [Read more…]
Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) is a relatively new concept (been around 10-12 years). It is a top down approach to business system management and execution It is a risk-based problem solving and decision-making process. Everything is looked through a risk prism.
I suspect that many of the companies that have adopted ERM have not implemented it to the fullest extent of its capabilities. The reason is it takes a cultural change to do so and many companies do not know how to do it. This paper by example explains how to change the culture in a company to fully and completely implement ERM. [Read more…]
Organisations exist in a dynamic world where business uncertainty and socio-political volatility can adversely affect their existence. The mass of data available and the contradictory interpretations that can be made add ambiguity and complexity to the mix. Our modern day organisations, or at least their management or leadership team realise, or should realise, that their operating environments are changing and, in order to adapt and survive, they too need to change.
The floating drilling rig, operating in 6,000 ft. of water, pitched in rough seas 300 miles away from shore as the outer bands of the hurricane’s winds buffeted the drilling location. Per procedure, the crew installed the Storm Packer (SP) in the well to isolate its open wellbore from the ocean before the storm roared across the location – but it failed its pressure test. The crew then installed the back-up SP which passed the pressure test. The well was finally secured, and the 25,000-ton drilling rig was moved out of the hurricane’s path. Because the first SP failed, a 12-hour process took 30 hours to complete, while wind speed and wave heights increased.
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“Hi, I’m Andrew, and I have a weakness for data.”
There, I said it.
I love spreadsheets. I love national statistics. I love primary sources.
I could probably have completed my Master’s dissertation without an extension if I had just accepted that cited quotes were valid instead of looking for all the original sources*. And I don’t need to read the last three years of a company’s annual reports before I have a 20-minute call with them.
Studies show most projects fail due to poor management of known risks. The known risks on a project are:
The question is how do we manage known risks better? Known risks can be significantly mitigated with application of basic Project Management methods and processes.
This article will address scope. The other known risks will be addressed in separate articles.
On July 17, 2020, the American Council for Technology – Industry Advisory Council (ACT-IAC) issued a report entitled “Delivering Outcomes, Building Trust”. The ACT-IAC is a non-profit educational organization established to create a “more effective and innovative government”. The report provides some ideas on how the United States Federal government can become “more resilient, adaptable, and responsive.” This piece will look at the report and its recommendations.
