“Don’t Waste a Good Crisis – How To Succeed in Today’s

Resources Sector”

Barry Bloch

Chief Operating Officer – Project Support Services

1

We are in crisis!

Global turmoil

Increasing competitiveness

Increasing regulatory complexity

Technological innovation

Economic recession

Accelerated new entrants

Changing demands of society

New operating models

Industry consolidation

Political rollercoaster Significant

redundancies

We face four fundamental challenges

3 8100451

GROWTH AND SURVIVAL

COMPETITION BEYOND TRADITIONAL MARKETS

OPERATING MODELS BEYOND ORGANISATIONAL MODELS

DISRUPTION BEYOND CHANGE

We are not changing fast enough!

Glo

bal

Co

mp

eti

tiven

ess

Low

High

Delivering tonnage and cost

Managing safety procedures +

Attracting, retaining, developing and managing people safely +

Building new stakeholder relationships +

Complying with increased governance requirements +

Driving core business innovation +

Delivering disruptive transformation +

Creating new ways of doing business +

Finding new streams of revenue +

~1980s ~1990s ~2000s ~ 2015

We wasted

the boom

Firstly we need to stop believing our own

nonsense!

Common Sense

Common Nonsense

Uncommon Sense

Uncommon Sense

Uncommon Nonsense

Uncommon Nonsense

What W

e B

elie

ve T

o B

e T

rue

Actually ‘True’

Actually ‘False’

Competitive Advantage

Competitive Advantage

Competitive Disadvantage

Competitive Disadvantage

License To Play

Industry Destroyers

Source: Professor J Goddard; 2004

Your

Company

Your

Competitors

Common nonsense – It is critical to make things

practical and simple

Uncommon sense – We can thrive on the

edge of chaos

• Organisations which are most adaptable and

dynamic operate in a zone between order and

disorder

• They are teetering between tilting and falling:

a state of permanent “almost-fell”

• This state is the hallmark of a thriving economy

and healthy organisations…

• The most productive change always occur on the

edge of chaos

The most successful organisations remain

poised in the act of collapsing

Common nonsense – All change needs to be

managed and controlled with CLOCKWARE

• Rational planning and decision-making

methods that are used along with

measures, controls and feedback

mechanisms only work where there is a

high degree of agreement and certainty

• Yet we try manage all change using

CLOCKWARE

Management processes that are rational, planned, standardized,

controlled, measured and efficient deliver change

Leading on the Edge with SWARMWARE

• Used on the edge between complexity, ambiguity and disintegration

• Processes for meeting new challenges and exploring new possibilities

• Employ experimentation, intuition, risk-taking, incubation, exploration and the freeing up of individuals working at the edge of knowledge and experience

• Used where major growth and change are required in an environment of little or partial agreement and certainty

There is another way to make the most of a

good crisis

Far from Agreement

Far from Certainty

Close to Agreement

Close to Certainty

THE RATIONAL ARENA - Clockware

THE WHAT ARENA –

Strategic focus & alignment

THE HOW ARENA –

process focus & control

CHAOS -anarchy & disintegration

4. Encourage Innovation, capture and reward it

2. Welcome unpredictability, paradox and learning on the run

3. Liberate information and relationship for independent decisions

THE EDGE – Swarmware

1. Focus on Good Enough Vision and Simple Rules (not solutions)

5. Relentlessly keep your organisation on the edge and constantly manage anxiety

Leading on the edge

Source: Professor R Anderson; 2008

• Focus on Good Enough Vision and Simple Rules (not solutions)

• Welcome unpredictability, paradox and learning on the run

• Liberate information and relationship for independent decisions

• Encourage innovation, capture and reward it

• Relentlessly keep your organization on the edge and constantly manage anxiety

Swarmware Tools

• Provide minimum specifications rather

than trying to plan every detail

• Model and teach skillful application of

80/20

• Clarify and get buy-in on non –

negotiable simple rules

Focus on Good Enough Vision and Simple Rules

(not solutions)

• Say YES

• Avoid smoothing over contradictions

• Always ask - what did you learn, how

should we do it next time, what can

you tell others?

Welcome unpredictability, paradox and

learning on the run

• Make all information available to everyone and ensure people know how to use it

• Remove hierarchical blocks and impregnable silos

• Encourage interaction, collaboration and communication

• Create a mistake tolerant culture that encourages independence

Liberating information and relationship for

independent decisions

• Experiment at the fringes, not in

your core business. Incubate!

• Fail fast!

• Support and spread innovations

that deliver better, faster, smarter

• Create robust rewards and deliver

them consistently and generously

Encouraging innovation, capturing and

rewarding it

• Remember that real growth occurs

on the edge - help people see this

and welcome it

• Create a culture of courage, a

willingness to be wrong and positive

thinking

• Compassionately manage reactions

to the inevitable pressure and

stress - first in yourself, second in

those you lead

Relentlessly keep your system on the edge and

constantly manage anxiety

• Balance data, control and planning with spontaneous action,

intuition, exploration and freedom

• The tight/loose mix is the key

• Cohesive and disciplined teams for day to day issues

• Spontaneous networks with open conflict and

dialogue for generating growth

In practice we need to lead with both Clockware

and Swarmware together

Objectively

Selecting Those

Projects That

Hold Promise

Generating

Value Adding

Ideas &

Opportunities

Effectively

Managing A

Portfolio Of

Projects

Enabling

Successful

Implementation

In Operations

Measuring The

Value Delivered

& Capturing

Learning's

A

B D C D C

E

Clock-ware

control, governance, delivery

Swarm-ware

ideas, innovation, new possibilities

Significant interface challenges

and the key to success

Innovation Organization

Two cultures must co-exist to succeed

Source: John McGagh; 2008

• The role of the leader is increasingly complex and demanding

and traditional leadership is insufficient in the face of the current

economic crisis

• Our leaders need to be courageous so as not to waste a good

crisis

• Our culture need to move beyond managing the “Science of the

Known” to embracing the “Art of the Unknown”

• To achieve this we need to challenge our “Uncommon

Nonsenses” and move from leading change with “Clockware” to

driving transformation through “Swarmware”

Conclusion

19 8100451

• The role of the leader is increasingly complex and demanding

and traditional leadership is insufficient in the face of the current

economic crisis

• Our leaders need to be courageous so as not to waste a good

crisis

• Our culture need to move beyond managing the “Science of the

Known” to embracing the “Art of the Unknown”

• To achieve this we need to challenge our “Uncommon

Nonsenses” and move from leading change with “Clockware” to

driving transformation through “Swarmware”

Conclusion

20 8100451