Mind-expanding reading list LO3562

Thorogood, John (thorogoj@txpcap.hou.xwh.bp.com)
1 Nov 1995 08:50:08 -0600

Replying to LO3420 --

Hi folks:

Information and Organisations - the Manager as Anthropologist,
by Max Boisot, Harper Collins, Glasgow, UK

An interesting account of how information flows within organisations,
explained in terms of its degree of codification and the extent of its
diffusion. This codification/diffusion theory helped me understand the
role of technical specialists in engineering teams. How their knowledge
is used, what can block its dissemination and how much of the information
they require is found on site - hence an understanding as to why support
for complex oilfield operations in remote areas cannot effectively be
provided by people in centralised technical service units.

Extending the question to apply to technical papers, I offer:

Using a Drilling Management System to Build a Learning Organisation,
Hanni, Chambers and Brett, Journal of Petroleum Technology, June 1994

This article postulated that the way people learn is akin to how an
adaptive control system works. It then goes on to suggest that an
organisation will not learn unless you can develop processes which emulate
an adaptive control system. I have found this simple model to be of
immense practical help in my day to day work with oilfield drilling
operations in the North Sea, North and South America and SE Asia. Much of
the learning literature is long on abstractions and short on practical
suggestions for systems and processes that you can implement in a living
organisation. The control system idea helps me land abstract ideas like
mental models in a very practical environment. It also gives me a
framework into which I can fit the things an organisation is doing well
and assess where things (might) need strengthening. Systems are part of
the solution, developing the human behaviours to make the systems work
.... well, thats another story!

--
John Thorogood
Drilling Engineering Advisor
BP Exploration
Aberdeen, Scotland (UK)
Tel: (44)-1224-833-585