Many energy industry organizations that have begun a journey toward digital transformation are aware of the deep connection between adoption of technology and the workplace culture of those whose jobs and processes are likely to be most impacted by that journey.
Speaking on that cultural impact, Brendan Rogers, downstream digitization manager for Chevron Corp., shared a quote that explains what digital transformation means to Chevron: "To win in a fast-changing world, we empower people to make better, faster decisions supported by digital technologies and a culture of motivation."
"This statement was first coined in 2017, so it's been a long journey for us," Rogers said at the 2021 AFPM Annual Meeting. "One of the takeaways is it takes a while to change the way people think."
The two key words in the quote, Rogers said, are "people" and "culture."
"While we're trying to make better and faster decisions through technology and innovation, it's really important to get sustained [organizational] change in how our people work and the thinking they have," he said. "We recognize that to continue success in our digital technology journey, we need to take people and culture to heart."
Noting that while Chevron's safety record is "second to none," it took a number of years to ingrain that culture in its workforce.
"Digital transformation is a long journey, so don't expect to change the way people work and think overnight. It's going to take years," Rogers said.
Rogers shared a list of ingredients essential to setting up a viable digital enterprise. The first ingredient, he said, is identifying the opportunity.
"Establish a beachhead," Rogers recommended. "Start small, deliver value early and then scale across the enterprise."
Next, he said, comes "executing with an agile mindset," which helps reduce decisions and deliver minimum viable product.
Leadership presence, Rogers said, requires business leadership support at all levels, including being proactive in self-learning and cultivating a collaborative culture.
"A new breed of leaders," he explained, takes time to learn and listen. "Sponsorship and continued focus are imperative, and continuous reinforcement of the new behaviors is really important."
Building a solid technological foundation, Rogers said, enables the delivery of business solutions.
"Relentlessly and strategically growing capabilities and building fluency across the enterprise drives a culture of learning and curiosity," he continued. "Citizen developers and product owners become commonplace."
Rogers identified "customer centricity" as a final element of success. "Customer centricity and adoption, cost efficiency and value creation are focused on the customer's business needs and delivering on those needs," he said.
Delivering a field of solutions
Bill Johnson, senior vice president and chief transformation officer for DCP Midstream, agreed with Rogers regarding the elements of success necessary to merge digitization with culture.
"We've done a lot of training to enable a more multiskilled workforce - lots of surveys and lots of user-centered design thinking," Johnson said. "What I mean by that is, go where the work is and understand what the barriers are and how you might make that better, digitally or otherwise."
While he recognizes that having the support and buy-in of corporate leadership is essential, Johnson also believes the best solution for addressing challenges - whether they are related to digitization, processes or nearly anything else - can be found by tapping the often underutilized resources of an experienced frontline workforce.
"Get out in the field," Johnson said. "A lot of the answers to getting things done in a big company are out there in the employees' heads. If you can tie in to that, it can be pretty mind-blowing."
"It's not just a digital value-added [proposition]; it's a business value-add," Rogers concluded.
