SPE 68795

Competency Ingredients for the Successful Petroleum Professional in the New

Millennium
B. Fattahi, SPE, Aera Energy LLC, S.O. Riddle, Aera Energy LLC

Copyright 2001, Society of Petroleum Engineers Inc.

to prepare them for the new high-skill, high-wage jobs of
This paper was prepared for presentation at the SPE Western Regional Meeting held in the future. To meet this goal, we must educate our next
Bakersfield, California, 26–30 March 2001.
generation with the requisite base skills to ensure that
This paper was selected for presentation by an SPE Program Committee following review of
information contained in an abstract submitted by the author(s). Contents of the paper, as
America has the finest technology workforce in the
presented, have not been reviewed by the Society of Petroleum Engineers and are subject to world."
correction by the author(s). The material, as presented, does not necessarily reflect any
position of the Society of Petroleum Engineers, its officers, or members. Papers presented at
SPE meetings are subject to publication review by Editorial Committees of the Society of Only 30 years ago, engineers and scientists were still using
Petroleum Engineers. Electronic reproduction, distribution, or storage of any part of this paper
for commercial purposes without the written consent of the Society of Petroleum Engineers is slide rules and information was distributed by carbon copies.
prohibited. Permission to reproduce in print is restricted to an abstract of not more than 300
words; illustrations may not be copied. The abstract must contain conspicuous Today, rapidly changing technology is affecting the ways we
acknowledgment of where and by whom the paper was presented. Write Librarian, SPE, P.O.
Box 833836, Richardson, TX 75083-3836, U.S.A., fax 01-972-952-9435.
generate, store and deliver information. Organizations are
discovering that they must not only be a collection of products
and services, but also a portfolio of competencies as well. In
Abstract doing so, organizations are recognizing that they:
Against a background of mergers and acquisitions, lean
organizations and business demands, today's working ‰ Must develop the right competencies that are essential to
environment has become more diverse and far more their future prosperity
challenging. Globalization of the industry, the advent of
instant communication, and rapidly developing technology, and they:
more than ever require today's petroleum professionals to
maintain their technical competence, broaden their experience, ‰ Must develop such competencies faster than their
and constantly adapt to the fast paced work environment. The competitors.
attributes of petroleum professionals in the new work
environment will be different from the traditional ones. Now In today's workplace environment, workers watch their skill
a host of so-called "soft" skills have gained prominence in lifetime grow shorter as the information age revolutionizes the
today's business environment. Technical competence will be work environment. The degree to which we prosper will
defined by how well results are achieved through effective depend on our ability to instill knowledge and to continuously
teamwork, leveraging diversity of perspectives and critical develop skills. Inevitably those of us who do not adhere to a
thinking and creative problem solving. Petroleum lifelong learning will find ourselves disadvantaged in our
professionals who can quickly learn and develop these ability to compete and solve complex problems.
competencies will be in a better position to compete for the
most attractive job opportunities. Competency
Competency means having the requisites or adequate ability
This paper analyzes the workplace expectations for petroleum and quality to function in a particular way. But in today’s
professionals and proposes the competency ingredients for demanding work environment, competence is more than a
career success in the New Millennium. professional obligation. It is a professional necessity.
Acquiring competency is a lifelong practice and not a one-
Introduction time event. Through gaining work experience the academic
In March 1998, in a joint hearing before the United States skills are translated into functional skills. Within a few short
House of Representatives' Technology Subcommittee, years after entering the labor force, a variety of new skills are
1
Chairwoman C.A. Morella said : needed and must be acquired through the process of
continuing education. Winston Churchill once said: "The
‰ "…. to maintain our global preeminence, it is critical that most important thing about education is appetite. Education
American students are taught the fundamentals necessary
2 B. FATTAHI AND S. O. RIDDLE SPE 68795

does not begin with the university and it certainly ought not neuro-networks, and real-time operations demand intensive
end there." utilization of technology. Research into innovative ideas such
as composite tubing applications, expandable casing, rigless
Workers are the essential ingredients to technological drilling, and downhole refining are pursued, and new
innovation and economic competitiveness. The capacity of technologies are being developed to gain access to ultra
the workforce is measured by the amount and the variety of deepwater (water depths >10,000 ft.) and gas hydrate
the competencies and skills it possesses. This capacity varies reservoirs. The demand for safety and stringent environmental
continually depending on the workplace strategic plans and considerations also require the development and application of
the workers incentives to prove their worth to the technologies in areas such as advanced materials, and smart
organization. Individuals and their organizations must always sensors/actuators.
pursue ways of enhancing the workforce capacity and avoid
2 Our industry is continually faced with unpredictable
nurturing professional obsolescence . The successful
professionals of the new millennium will have to possess two challenges presented by global politics, worldwide operation,
vitally important attributes. They will have to have a volatile oil prices, mergers and competition. Intensified
competitive drive and have to be lifelong learners. Fig. 1 competition and globalization have placed a premium on
shows the critical relationship of these elements to a expertise. Responding to the need, our industry’s professional
3 society is now in the forefront of advocacy and nurturing
professional’s career success . Organizations must also be
watchful of unintentionally creating deterrents to development lifelong learning. The Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE)
of competencies. If not carefully enacted some of the has defined its mission as:
following could be deterents:
‰ "To provide the means to collect, disseminate, and
‰ Creating business unit boundaries that fragment exchange technical information concerning the
competencies development of oil and gas resources, subsurface fluid
‰ Keeping talented people in the same job for too long thus flow, and production of other materials through wellbores
depriving them of new experiences and skill development for the public benefit; and to provide opportunities
‰ Outsourcing through its programs for interested (and qualified)
‰ Short term competitive mentality individuals to maintain and upgrade their individual
‰ Reduction of staff technical competence in these areas."
‰ Lack of strategy to build competencies
The Society's mission is accomplished through meetings and
These barriers cause loss of incentive for individuals to exhibitions, electronic publication, book publication, section
develop new skills or cause dissatisfaction and their eventual programs, periodicals, technical interest groups, and finally
departure from the organization. through the conducting of short courses. Recognizing its vital
role in developing the means for lifelong learning, the Society,
6
While the importance of uninterrupted education in our through a task force with members selected from the
4 industry, academia, and professional engineering registration
technologically rich environment has been stressed , the need
for a spectrum of skills and competencies is in itself a critical organizations has proposed guidelines defining the breadth
issue. New skill sets are needed and new attributes are and depth of knowledge needed in the following areas:
rewarded, and although developing technological literacy is
‰ General Knowledge/Skills
highly important, at least as important is acquiring the so-
called "soft skills" required for success in the fast changing (Table 1)
‰ Production Engineering Knowledge/Skills
workplace.
(Table 2)
‰ Reservoir Engineering Knowledge/Skills
Technical Competency and the Petroleum Industry
When it comes to the size and the utilization of emerging (Table 3)
‰ Formation Evaluation Knowledge/Skills
technologies, the petroleum industry has its place of
prominence. At prevailing wellhead prices, the world’s (Table 4)
‰ Drilling Engineering Knowledge/Skills
annual production of 28 billion barrels of oil and 100 TCF of
natural gas is perhaps the largest business in the world with (Table 5)
sales of $1 trillion dollars annually.
In addition to minimum competence breadth and depth, an
Our industry is the largest user of supercomputers, and due to above minimum competence is also defined for four to 10
its size and the complexity of its problems, it is driving all years of industry experience. A more specific timeline for
4
5
sectors of the information technology industry . A multitude acquiring the indicated skills is proposed by Fattahi as
of complex problems such as deepwater drilling and shown in the first column of each of the Tables 1-5. Addition
production, operation at temperature extremes, visualization, of the time scale makes the Competency Matrix more useful
SPE 68795 COMPETENCY INGREDIENTS FOR THE SUCCESSFUL PETROLEUM PROFESSIONAL IN THE NEW MILLENNIUM 3

since it now can be used to determine where one stands with diversity that is based on attributes like gender, ethnicity,
respect to the standard or the industry expected competency religion or age. By valuing diversity a broader range of
requirement. The shaded areas in each Table indicate where thoughts, perspectives, backgrounds and experiences will lead
an SPE short course is available to develop the specific to more innovative and effective ideas and decisions.
required competency.
We are reminded of the saying from The Talmud "We don't
Soft Skills and the Petroleum Industry see things as they are, we see things as we are." This tendency
The soft skills or behavioral competencies that are the focus can draw us to solutions that are more familiar and more
here are those that we believe are the most significant because comfortable to us. It is much more difficult to embrace that
of their potential impact on how they can contribute to which does not feel effortless to us. The ability to listen to
performance. Not surprisingly these are some of the more one another, to suspend judgment, to be curious about
difficult competencies to develop. These competencies are another’s view, to respect an opinion different from your own
self-awareness, leadership ability, and team work skills. is to begin to value diversity of perspective.
Attitude, hope and an optimistic bias can greatly increase an
individual’s ability to achieve exceptional results. Understanding that each of us has prejudices and being aware
of them are important steps in being able to act without subtle
Self-Awareness biases. For example, consider whom we choose as team
There are many aspects to self-awareness. Some that are members, how we accept or value another's contribution or
noteworthy to talk about are adaptability, accepting predispose a certain kind of behavior. The ability for each of
responsibility, a continuous improvement mindset, and us to contribute to and support an environment that is
valuing diversity of thought and perspective. inclusive and one where even subtle acts of discrimination or
harassment are not ignored contributes to the success of
This is a rapidly changing world. Technological advances are everyone. An environment where each of us feels comfortable
re-defining work as we have known it. Performance expressing ourselves, speaking from our heart, and speaking
expectations continue to increase as the traditional ways of without fear of judgment will benefit all. It is this type of
working are being re-defined. Organizations are becoming environment in which creativity can flourish, break through
flatter; spans of control are increasing. Empowerment has solutions to problems can appear and the work place is a
taken hold as a way of organization life. The successful harmonious and pleasant place.
individual will likely be one who can quickly adapt and find
his or her role or niche and do so with a minimal amount of Leadership
stress. Those who can accept ambiguity and change and can The leadership competency is used here to describe a behavior
learn to create role clarity by understanding and aligning their that anyone can take in accomplishing work or personal goals.
work around the top priorities of the organization will increase Anyone can show leadership in getting something done
their opportunities for career success. regardless of rank or level in the organization or experience.
Leadership employs an individual’s expertise, influence and
Another aspect of self-awareness is practicing continuous energy to move a project or a portion of a project forward. It
improvement as a way of life. This speaks to approaching all can involve a range of efforts--helping the group create a clear
that one does with a belief that past performance can be vision of where they want to go and with the high commitment
improved. Continuous improvement requires reflecting on and trust necessary to get there, finding the resources to
what happened, what was learned and what can be done accomplish a task and shepherding the project to successful
differently to improve on the outcome. From a personal completion. Success in leadership is not measured by being in
perspective, continuous improvement also requires charge or flaunting one’s ego.
understanding one’s strengths and continuing to leverage
them, understanding one’s development areas and setting To be an effective leader an individual must secure the respect
goals to make progress on improvement. It is a natural of others in the following areas:
tendency to avoid thinking about the areas where one can
improve. Similarly, there can be reluctance to seek feedback Knowledge – People value an individual whose expertise
from those who could provide helpful insight into improving helps them accomplish one or more of the steps necessary to
our performance. The willingness to be realistically 7
achieve the objective .
introspective, to seek out feedback about our skills and
competencies, and then map a path to leverage strengths and People skills – Individuals that truly value the team and share
to make progress in areas that need further development are the team’s goals will naturally cause team members to
ingredients for future success. gravitate to that individual. A result is the individual’s input
will be more readily accepted, and team members will be
Another aspect of self-awareness is how one views diversity. motivated to work voluntarily to accomplish the goal.
Diversity defined here is valuing differing views and
perspectives. It goes beyond the more traditional definition of
4 B. FATTAHI AND S. O. RIDDLE SPE 68795

Momentum – Individuals who take the time to make things understanding why we feel that emotion. What has triggered
happen, even if seemingly trivial will be recognized as a it? How we deal with that emotion, especially anger and fear
leader regardless of rank in the organization. Removal of can impact the balance of the triangle.
barriers and personal involvement creates the energy to move
something forward. Manage Commitments – A commitment is made when there is
a request for action and the person who will perform the action
Team Skills agrees to do the action. Relationship breakdowns occur when
Team skills have been selected as one of the critical commitments are made and not kept or a commitment was
competencies because of the profound impact teamwork has unclear. Relationships are strengthened when commitments
had on how work gets done. The importance of being able to are kept. When a commitment cannot be kept or there has
work well on a team is not a new concept. Positive interaction been a breakdown the relationship can still be strengthened
among team members is critical to the success of any project. through re-commitment.
The form in which this interaction takes place, e.g. formal or
informal meetings, e-mail, teleconferences, etc., is dependent Those who try to maintain the balance between Task, Self and
on a number of factors, not the least of which is the team’s Relationship (Fig. 2) will be able to continue to increase their
objective and the personality of the members. Regardless of ability and capability to deliver results both individually and in
the form of interaction, effective communication, conflict teams. The ability to increase output, drive results and
resolution and team learning are critical to the ultimate success achieve even more complex goals and tasks is fundamental to
of a project. success.

Many of us are still learning how to maximize individual and High performing team members need to be able to talk to one
team performance in the teamwork environment. The team another, hear and consider diverse views, make timely and
skills competencies that will be addressed here are a model for effective decisions and resolve conflict.
high performance, effective conversations, and team learning.
An effective way for this to happen is through dialogue that
Goals and/or work are accomplished thorough a balance of balances advocacy and inquiry. The Dialogue Model shown
task, self and relationships, as shown in the Model For High in Fig. 3 depicts the interplay and balance between advocacy
8 9
Performance of Fig. 2. When the three elements are in and inquiry in the dialogue process .
balance the individual and team can take on increasingly
challenging tasks. Productive advocacy opens our thought process to others. It
exposes our reasoning, assumptions, data, concerns and goals.
Work from the simplest task to a highly complex project, is It encourages others to inquire into our view. Productive
accomplished by individuals working interdependently in an inquiry is based on being open and curious about what others
organization. The way we behave with one another can are thinking.
positively or negatively impact the balance of the triangle.
The “shadows” of advocacy and inquiry are also shown in Fig.
The triangle is strengthened and moves into balance when 3. The “shadows” of inquiry appear in our conversations
individuals do the following things: when judgments have not been suspended, when opinions
have already been reached, when one is not truly open and
Tell the Truth – In addition to being honest and ethical in our curious about another's views. The “shadows” of advocacy
relationships, it is being willing to share what we believe and appear when positions are not grounded by revealing
why believe to be true for us. When we begin to share the assumptions and beliefs, and concerns are not expressly stated.
assumptions and beliefs that underpin our mental models or Withdrawal is used as a means to show displeasure or
why we think the way we do, we open others to our thinking. boredom with what is happening at that moment. These
actions are barriers to effective conversation. Consider a
Take Responsibility – To be successful individuals need to conversation that went extremely well. Attributes of that
continually increase their capacity to take action. This means conversation might be genuine interest in what the person was
comparing what we want to what we are getting. We are then saying, differing views were accepted, and the participants
responsible for taking action to move our current reality closer believed they were heard. At the conclusion of the
to our vision. conversation, regardless of the outcome, learning occurred in
that more was known than when it began. Teams that can use
Manage Emotions – How we act and react with one another the dialogue process to explore options, define challenges,
has a profound effect on relationships. A significant step in reveal differing views are demonstrating the ability to learn
emotional management is to recognize when we feel an together.
emotion—joy, anger, fear, excitement, or sadness.
Recognizing an emotion’s presence is fundamental to
SPE 68795 COMPETENCY INGREDIENTS FOR THE SUCCESSFUL PETROLEUM PROFESSIONAL IN THE NEW MILLENNIUM 5

Another area of team skills is the ability of teams to learn being able to bear up in onerous jobs. Hope is believing you
together through action learning. A definition of action have both the will and the way to accomplish your goals.
learning is deliberate reflection on experiences to improve the Individuals tend to differ in the general degree to which they
effectiveness of future actions. Given that definition, here are have hope. Some typically think of themselves as able to
10 solve problems, while others simply do not see themselves as
some key principles of action learning :
having the energy, ability, or means to accomplish their goals.
‰ Reflection is the essential link between past action and
more effective future action. People with a high level of hope have certain traits. They are
able to motivate themselves, feel resourceful enough to find
‰ There is not one right way - multiple solutions are ways to accomplish their objectives, reassure themselves when
possible. difficulties arise that things will get better, be flexible enough
to find different ways to reach their goals or to switch goals if
‰ Diverse experience and perspective can strengthen the one becomes impossible, and break down a formidable task
whole group. into smaller, manageable pieces.

‰ A safe, focused learning environment enables learning at Having hope means that one will not give into overwhelming
deeper levels anxiety, a defeatist attitude or depression in the face of
difficult challenges or setbacks. People who are hopeful have
The action learning process focuses on real work and less depression and less emotional distress than others as they
application. It is not a one-time event. It is a team acting, maneuver though life in pursuit of their goals.
reflecting on what happened, learning and then taking action
based on what is learned. What results is a continuum of act, Optimism like hope means having a strong expectation that, in
reflect, learn and act again. general, things will turn out all right, despite set backs and
frustrations. It pays dividends in life. Optimism can be
Here is a way for a team to get started with action learning. defined in terms of how individuals explain to themselves
After a significant action, event, or project reflect together on their successes and failures. People who are optimistic see a
1) what happened 2) why do we think it happened 3) what can failure as due to something that can be changed so success can
we learn from this. 4) how can we apply what has been happen the next time. Pessimists take the blame for failure,
learned. Unfortunately individuals and teams in the press of ascribing it to some lasting characteristics they are helpless to
long to-do lists and project lists don't take the time for change. Holding an optimistic attitude helps us to learn from
reflection. There is a rush to get on with the next thing. failures and to not accept defeat. It powers personal goal
Action learning requires individuals and teams to slow down, setting and to accept failure pragmatically and not personally.
reflect on past events and think about cause and effect and to This is particularly important since deeper learning can occur
draw interrelationships. This takes some discipline and time from reflecting on why we failed rather than why we were
to do. Action learning can be quite powerful when an successful.
individual or team builds on what has been learned--the plan,
act, reflect, learn continuum and a model for continuous Underlying hope and optimism is an outlook psychologists
improvement. call self-efficacy, which is the belief that one has mastery over
the events of one's life and can meet challenges as they come
Similar to the technical competency matrix (Tables 1-5), a up. Developing a competency of any kind strengthens the
behavioral competency matrix can also be a very useful sense of self-efficacy, making a person more willing to take
guideline in developing such competencies as well as serving risks and seek out more demanding challenges. Surmounting
as a tool to determine one’s standing in comparison with the those challenges in turn increases the sense of self-efficacy.
expectations. To this end, we propose a time-dependent This attitude makes people more likely to make the best use of
competency development matrix as shown in Tables 6-8. The the skills they have or to do what it takes to develop the skills
proposed matrix recognizes team skills, self-awareness, and they need.
leadership as the fundamental competencies and offers the
11
attributes that must be developed for each at various stages of Albert Bandura , a Stanford psychologist who has done much
work experience. of the research on self-efficacy sums it up well: "People's
beliefs about their abilities have a profound effect on those
Hope and Optimism: Great Motivators abilities. Ability is not a fixed property; there is a huge
Even with solid technical skills and developed behavioral variability in how you perform. People who have a sense of
competencies the role of hope and optimism in one's attitude self-efficacy bounce back from failures; they approach things
can contribute significantly to success. Hope, research in terms of how to handle them rather than worrying about
indicates, plays a surprisingly potent role in life, offering an what can go wrong."
advantage in realms as diverse as school achievement and
6 B. FATTAHI AND S. O. RIDDLE SPE 68795

Conclusion References
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Committee on Education and Workforce, U.S. House of
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knowledge as well as their ability to help the team get results. 4. Fattahi, B.: “Uninterrupted Education: The Vital Role of SPE's
Achievements both large and small can be linked to Continuing Education in Professional Development,” Presented
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is understanding one’s self and leveraging strengths and
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working on growth areas, all within the spirit of continuous Petroleum Industry," Petroleum Engineer International (Jan.
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6. Reece, C.: “Core Knowledge and Skills-SPE Competency
Each of us defines success a bit differently and there are no Matrix,” Presented at The Fifth Colloquium on Petroleum
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capability form the critical ingredients for the successful 8. Kofman, F. and Prett, D.: Private Communication, Lecture
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petroleum professional in the new millennium. 9. Kofman, F.: Leading Learning Communities, Essay on
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Acknowledgement 10. Hyatt, M.: Private Communication, Lecture Notes on Action
We thank Aera Energy LLC for permission to publish this Learning (2000).
paper. 11. Goleman, D.: Emotional Intelligence, Bantam, New York
(1997) 87-90.
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