What Can We Learn From Hollywood?
In Hollywood’s golden age, the big studios used to make a certain number of ‘pictures’ each year, keeping directors, crew, and actors on…
ViewKeeping the train on the track
On a recent dreary Sunday afternoon, the Frank Sinatra movie Von Ryan’s Express was on TV. At one point, a train driver coupled some train carriages together.
ViewIs the danger real?
A few weeks ago, a warning light flashed on my dashboard. My brake pads needed attention. Apparently, I could proceed but should ‘drive with caution’.
ViewProjects succeed through craft
In the late Nineties, I was involved in building the first series of dual-activity ultra-deepwater rigs. Faced with flat screens and joysticks, the drillers would…
ViewMiserly pursuits
‘Look after the pennies and the pounds will look after themselves’. It’s nigh on impossible to reach adulthood without this old proverb burning into…
ViewThe trouble with heroism
Executives around the world complain about spending all their time ‘putting out fires’. Even those at the sharp end often feel their effort is…
ViewProject value over corporate aspiration
In Ernest Hemingway’s novel The Sun Also Rises, Bill asks Mike, ‘How did you go bankrupt?’ ‘Two ways,’ Mike replies. ‘Gradually and then suddenly.’ Many executives…
ViewProject value over corporate aspirations
Strategy is often framed in terms of how you win. But what does that mean? On large complex feats of engineering, you’re…
ViewTime for better foresight
‘We invest in management teams, not in companies.’ We hear this a lot from investors in energy projects. It seems like sound advice. After all,…
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