The Product Owner in our Leadership Team Part III

We have been discussing the Product Owner position in detail this past week. This position is a key part of our leadership team that we are currently recruiting. If you have an interest in the Product Owner position for one of our modules or technologies please contact me below. In the last post we discussed the Leader and Team Player attributes of the position. Today we continue with several other attributes of the Product Owner. Quotations are from the book “Agile Product Management with Scrum: Creating Products that Customers Love” by Roman Pichler.

People, Ideas & Objects state that we are filling a “gap” between the oil and gas, and Information Technology industries. Creating a sub-industry where nothing exists today. This “gap” exists as the technologies have become too specialized and as a result technology firms are unable to fully understand the needs of its customers, the oil and gas firms. What we are doing in filling this “gap” is providing a means of communication between the oil and gas and Information Technology industries so that they operate more effectively. In the book Roman Pichler states that the Product Owner is an effective communicator and negotiator that operates to “communicate with and aligns different parties, including customers, users, development and engineering, marketing, sales, service, operations, and management. The Product Owner is the voice of the customer, communicating customer needs and requirements and bridging the gap between ‘the suits’ and ‘the techies.’” It is this role as communicator and negotiator that we are placing so much emphasis on the Product Owner role within our leadership team of the user community.

The next two attributes that an effective Product Owner requires are to be empowered and committed. The ability to present new projects for development, and the ability to cancel poorly performing ones are necessary for the continuous improvement of the modules. The Product Owner also needs to have budgetary control of the module they are responsible for. These attributes impute a senior level of responsibility, especially considering the size of the user community budget for each module. Therefore an executive level of commitment is expected in return and as the book states “A successful Product Owner is confident, enthusiastic, energetic, and trustworthy.”

The physical location of the Product Owners matters. Our development team will be based in Houston. Therefore the Product Owners will be based in Houston. The need to have the Product Owners interact with the development team for their individual modules on a regular basis is a necessity. And this requirement would mean a minimum of two days per week. The offices of the Product Owners and user community resources will be located with the development team, therefore this will not be an issue.

Another key role in the development team is what is called the ScrumMaster. “The ScrumMaster supports the Product Owner and the development team, protects the team and the process, and intervenes appropriately when required to ensure that the pace of work is sustainable, that the team stays healthy and motivated, and that no technical debt is incurred.” And “The Product Owner is primarily responsible for the “what” -- creating the right product. The ScrumMaster is primarily responsible for the “how” -- using Scrum the right way. Only when the right product is created with the right process is enduring success achieved.”

The Preliminary Specification and user community provides the oil and gas producer with the most dynamic, innovative and profitable means of oil and gas operations. People, Ideas & Objects Revenue Model specifies the means in which investors can participate in these user defined software developments. Users are welcome to join me here. Together we can begin to meet the future demands for energy. And don't forget to join our network on Twitter @piobiz anyone can contact me at 403-200-2302 or email here. 

Caution, Facts Ahead.

Our value proposition is in the trillions of dollars. We provide for the commercialization of the shale gas reserves. Without the Preliminary Specification, the user community and the service providers, the oil and gas industry will continue on in its losing ways for the foreseeable future. Without us providing an alternative method of organization to the oil and gas industry, it will continue to operate in a failed state. These are difficult statements to process. We are a vision that is based on a number of concepts that are unique in the oil and gas industry. How is it that we are able to make such claims and remain free citizens.

Simply we are out to change the world and the statement that was made in the Apple keynote resonated with us. Without seeing things from a different point of view no progress is ever made, and we are seeking to make progress in the oil and gas industry. Something that we feel is distinctly lacking. For many people, things are ok. The capitalization of royalties is consistent with good policy and there is no need for change. People, Ideas & Objects and our associated communities have nothing for you. Our strategy is to remove you and replace you with our vision.

And so it is that we have a plan in how to implement this vision. January 2017 is when we expect that the investors who are concerned about the industry. Concerned that the shale gas reserves provide a significant endowment of value and resources to the economy. Are being wasted and destroyed by the current bureaucracies. And the progressive producers who may see things in the same way that we do. Fund our budget in its entirety. Once our funding is in place we will have the resources for the user community to develop the Comprehensive Specification and complete the first commercial iteration of the software. Our costs are high, however our value proposition as we noted is in the trillions of dollars.

Until January 2017 we have much to do. We have specified a number of positions within the user communities leadership team. These positions are being actively recruited as we speak. We need these people in place in order to secure the funding from the investors and progressive producers. These positions have been detailed in our user communities vision and number approximately thirty people. I guess we need to ask ourselves, who are the future leaders of the oil and gas industry? And what structure will they use in order to exercise their skills as leaders. Will it be through the classic bureaucratic structure of the oil and gas producer? Or will there be new ways in which to exercise those skills.

Wherever the new leadership is established in the oil and gas industry they will need the power and control over the environment in which they operate. The user community and service providers have at their disposal the Intellectual Property that is the Preliminary Specification and its derivatives. They have the software development capability of People, Ideas & Objects dedicated to the user community. And the sole point of contact for the dynamic, innovative and profitable producer to turn to for their software needs. That is the foundation of power and control that the user community has today with the policies that have been established in the user community vision, and that which the user community leadership team can draw upon.

One of the defining qualities of this new environment will be the dynamic nature of the user community and service providers. The actions of individuals will make a difference in the oil and gas industry. And that begins today with your actions. By joining the user communities leadership team or by preparing to join the user community in the future. Individual actions within the oil and gas industry, and an organizational methodology made up as described, facilitates the dynamic, innovative and profitable oil and gas producers needs.

The Preliminary Specification and user community provides the oil and gas producer with the most dynamic, innovative and profitable means of oil and gas operations. People, Ideas & Objects Revenue Model specifies the means in which investors can participate in these user defined software developments. Users are welcome to join me here. Together we can begin to meet the future demands for energy. And don't forget to join our network on Twitter @piobiz anyone can contact me at 403-200-2302 or email here. 

Who Are the Industries Next Leaders

The bureaucracy are managing their time until they are forced out, or their retirements allow them to live like kings. Either way they will be gone and the investors will be left holding the bag, as they say. Who then are the oil and gas industries next leaders. Dedicated, committed and looking to build on a flexible framework provided by the People, Ideas & Objects user community. Leaders that we can rely upon. And how do we recruit them into the user communities leadership team? Last week we went through how the user community and service providers can benefit the industry, the oil and gas investor, but particularly you the individual that is interested in participating in the user community and as a service provider. Bureaucracies are leaderless and not change oriented. However they are established. Their choice as individuals are to continue on in an unprofitable enterprise where you push paper in a system that is as frustrating and boring as is humanly possible, or to begin that permanent vacation. Bureaucrats know there is a better way, they also know there is nothing they can do to change things.

If you think that People, Ideas & Objects offer the alternative that the industry needs. One in which the focus will be on the dynamic, innovative and profitable oil and gas producer. Where the individual, working through the user community and the service providers has the ability, the capability and the power to make the changes that are necessary to keep the oil and gas producer dynamic, innovative and profitable. Then maybe there is a role for you in the leadership team of the user community. After all leaders need an organization, and roles within those organizations in order to practice their skills.

We showed last week that the People, Ideas & Objects user community has significant power that they can exercise within the oil and gas industry. This power is approximately equivalent to what the bureaucracy currently holds today in the oil and gas industry. The difference is that the bureaucracy have chosen to line their pockets by abusing this power, and employ the muddle along strategy. In other words they do nothing but use this power for their own self interest. We have chosen to prioritize the oil and gas producers dynamic, innovative and profitable capabilities as the keys to our competitive advantage. It is this competitive advantage that will sustain the user communities power for the long term. As long as we remain focused on these priorities we will remain the chosen method of oil and gas administration and accounting, ways and means.

We have established reasonable timelines for people to participate within the user community. We need to have the leadership team in place and operational prior to the January 2017 deadline that we established for industry, and the investors to support this initiative. It will be on the strength of the leadership team and our commitment to providing the oil and gas producers with the most dynamic, innovative and profitable means of oil and gas operations, and of course the Preliminary Specification that they will fund us. This does not preclude people from joining the user community prior to January 2017. After all we have much work to do.

Our leadership team consists of the traditional board of directors. We have set the total number to six, I have appointed myself as chairman and hold two votes. There are also the C class executives of the user community that need to be filled. That is the CEO, CFO and COO. Lastly there are many product owner positions that we have defined in the user community. Each product owner will be responsible for one of the modules of the Preliminary Specification, or one element of the development. For example the data model, or the user interface, etc. As a result the total number of people we are looking for to fill out this leadership team will be upwards of thirty people. If you have an interest in these positions or know of someone who might be a good candidate then pass this data on to them. After all it looks like we might just change the world after all.

The Preliminary Specification and user community provides the oil and gas producer with the most dynamic, innovative and profitable means of oil and gas operations. People, Ideas & Objects Revenue Model specifies the means in which investors can participate in these user defined software developments. Users are welcome to join me here. Together we can begin to meet the future demands for energy. And don't forget to join our network on Twitter @piobiz anyone can contact me at 403-200-2302 or email here. 

Decision Day January 2017

We have therefore made the decision to prepare our solution to the industry so that they can make a decision as to which method they will use to operate the industry. The bureaucracy or the People, Ideas & Objects Preliminary Specification, the user community and service providers. This decision will be made by the oil and gas industry and we have established January 2017 as the day for that decision to be made. That leaves us with thirty months in which to develop the leadership team and continue developing our offering. That offering consists of the Preliminary Specification as the vision of how the industry would operate. The Oracle Fusion Middleware and Oracle Applications as the infrastructure of our offering. And the leadership team of the user community. The leadership team consists of both the leadership of the user community itself and the leadership of the Preliminary Specification.

This change in our decision timelines does not change any of our product delivery timelines. It does however affect the timelines in which the industry will be called upon to financially support People, Ideas & Objects. It will be January 2017, upon the decision of going forward with our offering, that the funds detailed in our budget will be forwarded from industry to People, Ideas & Objects. These resources will then be used to support the user community development and introduce Oracle to our offering and begin the developments with them. No work or discussions will be undertaken with Oracle during the next 30 months leading up to the decision being made by industry. If Oracle is in the room or not does not make any difference in the decision making criteria of the industry. Oracle will be asked to do their job when we are in development. They will not be asked to do any favors or provide any commitments to industry. We will pay them for the work that they will do when the industry has provided us with the resources to do so.

The question then comes about what happens as a result of the choice to go forward with the bureaucracy. And that we must have a plan for as well. It will be clear at that time that the bureaucracy is impenetrable and will survive for the foreseeable future. Industry should consider the consequences of that decision. However we also need to consider the consequence of that decision. And I have. Although it would be ideal to proceed with the development of the software, the user community and service providers there really is no second best alternative for the Preliminary Specification. Implementation of the Joint Operating Committee dictates an all in type of methodology and mindset. There is no partial pregnancy when using the Joint Operating Committee. Things like the decentralized production model only work when the industry is operational on it. It is that stark and that uncompromising. Therefore in terms of preparing a secondary offering for industry. Or compromising on the Preliminary Specification as it stands today, its not possible because of the nature of using the Joint Operating Committee.

Therefore People, Ideas & Objects will be dissolved as a going concern as will the user community. Their opportunities for any future will be non-existent and therefore the organizations will cease to exist. The Intellectual Property however is a different story and I will manage that property as I see fit.

Until the day we know what the decision is we have much to do. The first is to start with the development of the leadership team of the user community. After all what we want to do is to get rid of the bureaucracy and build some software so that we can provide the oil and gas producer with the most profitable means of oil and gas operations.

The Preliminary Specification provides the oil and gas producer with the most profitable means of oil and gas operations. People, Ideas & Objects Revenue Model specifies the means in which investors can participate in these user defined software developments. Users are welcome to join me here. Together we can begin to meet the future demands for energy. And don't forget to join our network on Twitter @piobiz anyone can contact me at 403-200-2302 or email here. 

Adjusting our Timelines and Deliverables

Presenting a clear choice as to which method of organization the industry would operate is the only manner in which to eliminate the bureaucracy from the landscape. There has to be a comparable way in which people can see the differences in how the industry would perform, based on the two different methods. There is no other way to remove the bureaucracy other than replacing them. The industry also has to see a community of like minded people prepared to deliver that alternative to them if they should be chosen. With People, Ideas & Objects we have the vision of how the industry would operate with the Preliminary Specification. Using the Joint Operating Committee as the key organizational construct, the decentralized production model organizing the industries resources in a manner that is more efficient and enables features like a “price maker” strategy. Building on this vision of how the industry would be operated is the Oracle Fusion Middleware and Oracle Fusion Applications that provide the cloud computing infrastructure on which to operate.

What we need now is the user community to begin forming. The user community is a critical element of the quality of the software that is developed from this point forward. People, Ideas & Objects are user based software developments. We need a strong user community to be permanently developed to direct the software developers in the needs of the software that will be used in the industry. This user community, based on our user community vision, has the resources and wherewithal to affect the changes within the industry through the business models contained within the software itself. If industry wants to fundamentally change the way that the software operates then they are able to work through the user community in order to have those changes realized.

We want to be selected as the choice of which solution the industry uses to manage their assets. In order to do that we have to have certain elements of the user community established as the third component of our offering. We are starting by developing the necessary leadership of the user community. This leadership consists of both the leadership for the user community itself and the leadership for the Preliminary Specification. We have set in place time lines to have the developments of the Preliminary Specification begin in the year 2019. Enabling us the time to prepare for and to get the word out of what we are doing.

The bureaucracy have shut us out of the marketplace in terms of participation in the ERP vendor marketplace. We therefore have no resources and are doing this on a volunteer basis until our budget is raised. Our capital requirements are significant, however our impact to the individual producers is far greater than our costs. The opportunity costs that are being incurred during the time we are developing the leadership team will be in excess of $300 billion.

I think that it is clear to me that developing the user community beyond the leadership team would be counterproductive. Involving the general user in a potentially contingent operation is unnecessary and hazardous to their careers. Having the leadership team in place would be more than adequate for the industry to make a decision as to which method they want their assets managed. Going beyond the leadership team in terms of user community development would be a nice to have, however I don't think it adds any greater value to the decision making process that the people who will be making the decision will need. So I think we can keep it at these three components of our offering and force the decision based on those criteria. Based on that we need to revisit our timelines and recognize that our development start date of 2019 is appropriate however we need to move the decision time frame forward in recognition that we will not have a full user community in place. Therefore I have moved the decision timeframe forward to January 2017, 30 months from today, enabling an additional 2 years of user community development after the decision is made.

The Preliminary Specification provides the oil and gas producer with the most profitable means of oil and gas operations. People, Ideas & Objects Revenue Model specifies the means in which investors can participate in these user defined software developments. Users are welcome to join me here. Together we can begin to meet the future demands for energy. And don't forget to join our network on Twitter @piobiz anyone can contact me at 403-200-2302 or email here. 

Preparing a Choice for the Industry in the 21st Century

With so much value being generated in the Preliminary Specification, the user community and the service providers. You would think that the bureaucracy would find the time to engage us and begin the work necessary to make that value accrue to the shareholders, the people in the industry and society in general. That’s not the case, instead they try and copy our Intellectual Property and use it for their own purposes. I am certain their use of the IP will be to provide the proof necessary that the concepts underlying the Preliminary Specification will not work and that they can proceed to be the only game in town. That is the way that bureaucrats think.

One thing we know for sure is they are not taking the opportunity to shut-in any production and halt the decline in natural gas prices. We have said it here before. Bureaucracies can’t change. For them to implement a strategy that rolled back production while inventories were so low would be a tactical win for the industry. Prices would respond handsomely as the market and the natural gas storage providers would be both competing for a lower level of production from the producers. This would provide the producers with a foundation of which they could establish the “price maker” position that the Preliminary Specification enables. However there is no discussion of this. There are no reasonable people standing up and saying that this is an opportunity on a go forward basis. Just silence and muddling along.

This is why the user community and the service providers that are affiliated with People, Ideas & Objects are providing an alternative means of organization for the oil and gas producers, investors and people in the industry. Enabling a choice as to which method they want their assets managed. The bureaucracy and their muddling along strategies. Or the People, Ideas & Objects ecosystem that provide the most profitable means of oil and gas operations. One that has tangible and significant improvements in the profitability of the industry.

Its amazing isn't it that for the many years that we have been touting the value that we generate the only thing the bureaucracy has thought to do is to steal it. What purpose at this point does it make in trying to steal it, I don't know. What we will keep doing is preparing our alternative means of organization for the time when industry makes the decision as to which group to go with. The bureaucracy or People, Ideas & Objects et al.

And that makes your participation in these next few years an important element of the success of this initiative. Particularly if you feel you can fill one of the leadership positions in the user community. It will be through your leadership that we will be able to prepare this offering and make the changes in the industry that are necessary. Bureaucrats don't change. They haven’t for decades and they won't in the future. We need to prepare an alternative means of organization for the dynamic, innovative and profitable oil and gas producer.

It's an ambitious plan. Only because it is necessary as a result of the poor performance of the bureaucrats. If we saw some response that showed any sign of life from them then they might be given a second chance. However there is no sign of life and there are no second chances. There is only what we have to do to eliminate the bureaucracy from the landscape and implement what the industry needs for the 21st century.

The Preliminary Specification provides the oil and gas producer with the most profitable means of oil and gas operations. People, Ideas & Objects Revenue Model specifies the means in which investors can participate in these user defined software developments. Users are welcome to join me here. Together we can begin to meet the future demands for energy. And don't forget to join our network on Twitter @piobiz anyone can contact me at 403-200-2302 or email here. 

Users Operating the Infrastructure of the Industry

What the members of the dynamic, innovative and profitable oil and gas producer will be focused on is their competitive advantages of their earth science and engineering capabilities, and land and asset base. What the member of the user community will be focused on will be the providing that producer with the most profitable means of oil and gas operations. It is through the organizational structure of the industry that the producer will earn their profit. Granted it is highly dependent on finding commercial quantities of oil and gas reserves. However finding the reserves is not enough these days. How the industry is structured and operated will be a determining factor in the producers ability to earn a profit. With the Preliminary Specification the industry is structured and operated through the user community and its users are able to effect the changes necessary to ensure that the oil and gas producers are provided with the most profitable means of oil and gas operations.

If it were the 1850’s where buyers and sellers could be discovered serendipitously then we wouldn't need software or the user community. Producers would be able to produce their product and sell it out the back door of their office. But its 2014 and the complexity of our society dictates that we stand on the shoulders of giants and work within the systems and procedures that have been put in place over the past many decades. It is the operation of this infrastructure that the bureaucracy has put on automatic. Not allowing any opportunity to introduce any change within the system to provide for different outcomes. This is particularly noticeable in the case of natural gas prices. The bureaucracy are price takers, accepting any price that the market is providing. Giving up any hope or any opportunity to influence those prices.

With the user community the users are able to implement the changes within the systems to make the changes that are desirable to the oil and gas producers. In the case of prices, the Preliminary Specification and the users enable the producers to shut-in natural gas without any penalty of additional losses on operations, or too high of G&A. Producers are able to shut-in their unprofitable production and realize the higher prices as a result of the markets response to lower production. This infrastructure is a result of the software and users that are provided through People, Ideas & Objects and the Preliminary Specification.

Being proactive with the variables within the industry. As opposed to muddling along until something may or may not happen as in the bureaucracies way of dealing with things. Is the future of the oil and gas industry. The bureaucracy has other plans, and it doesn’t include a vision, profits or anyone other than themselves. What is needed is for the people who own those oil and gas assets is to sit down and ask themselves are they really being served by the manner that things are managed today. And is there a better way.

There is a robust future for the North American oil and gas industry. With the endowment of the oil sands and shale reserves, energy self sufficiency is a viable and worthwhile opportunity and goal. If left in the hands of the bureaucracy it will continue to be produced at a loss and be further wasted for the purposes of having them in power. We offer a viable alternative. A sound vision that works, is innovative and provides the most profitable means of oil and gas operations. The user community is a necessary element of the success of People, Ideas & Objects and they are key to the future of the industry. It is this vision and resource that provide a real alternative for the oil and gas investor and the people that work within the industry.

The Preliminary Specification provides the oil and gas producer with the most profitable means of oil and gas operations. People, Ideas & Objects Revenue Model specifies the means in which investors can participate in these user defined software developments. Users are welcome to join me here. Together we can begin to meet the future demands for energy. And don't forget to join our network on Twitter @piobiz anyone can contact me at 403-200-2302 or email here. 

Looking Forward to 2019

If we look retrospectively at the changes that have been made as a result of the Internet. And the pace of those changes on our daily lives. I think we see a dramatic level of change that makes what had come before the Internet pale in comparison. If we look at just those changes that have happened since 2010, that can be quantified to be “cloud computing” and the impact it has had. We are in a particularly interesting time in terms of human history. Now I may be seeing things from a different perspective than some of my readers. But if we extend these trends out towards 2019, who would doubt that things will be very different from what exists today. And who would doubt that the type of organizations that we use today will be the same that we have used for the past one hundred years.

Its probably a bit embarrassing to state that I can do three hours of my work in the morning without having to get out of bed. Its not that I do that every day, but some days I do. Is there any reason that anyone else can't do the same? I am sure that most bureaucracies demand attendance at 8:00 AM be taken and therefore this is something that will not be happening in the short run. The fact that I can start my day at 4:00 AM in bed is the advantage that the bureaucracies are unable to comprehend.

I chose 2019 as the day that we should look towards. As that is the year that we begin the developments of the Preliminary Specification. That will also mark the fifth year of user community development. It will be that time that we have the vision, the details, the community and hopefully, the oil and gas investors and the resources behind us to begin the developments of the organizational model for the future oil and gas industry. It will also be a time when the Information Technologies have moved society even further than it has today.

During the next five years the user community will be able to take the vision that is the Preliminary Specification and make it into the type of organization that will be managing the oil and gas industry for the next 50 to 60 years. Based on the Joint Operating Committee, using the decentralized production model and all that can be, added to it by the many contributors that will have joined us. This will be how the industry is managed. Using the user community vision where the people who work within the industry have the means to affect the changes in ways that they work within the industry and provide the most profitable means of oil and gas operations.

What we are seeing today is that the Information Technologies are finally having an effect on our lives. And it is to the betterment. I think we can expect that these trends will continue and should soon begin to accelerate. However, they will accelerate much quicker in the hands of those that will be the benefactors. With the way the user community is established. It is they who have the power and the resources to effect the changes that they want in how they do their jobs. Our priority is to provide the oil and gas producers with the most profitable means of oil and gas operations. How and what we do to bring the producers with those profitable operations is within our control. So if something strikes us at 4:00 in the morning we can deal with it then, and not have to wait until the mandatory 8:00 attendance.

The Preliminary Specification provides the oil and gas producer with the most profitable means of oil and gas operations. People, Ideas & Objects Revenue Model specifies the means in which investors can participate in these user defined software developments. Users are welcome to join me here. Together we can begin to meet the future demands for energy. And don't forget to join our network on Twitter @piobiz anyone can contact me at 403-200-2302 or email here.  

Leadership in the User Community Part VII

What the oil and gas industry needs in the future is the means to deal with change. Change within the business model that it operates upon. Where the strategies, opportunities and risks can be addressed in a timely and effective way. What we do know about software is that it is the equivalent of pouring concrete on an organization. Software both enables and constrains organizations. The capacity to change afterward doesn’t exist unless capabilities to make the changes to the software are also built within the systems. People, Ideas & Objects are building the software development capabilities. However developers are blind and dumb when it comes to the actual activities of what and how people do their jobs in the industry. We need a user community to direct us. One that has the power and the money to be independent and proactive in the industry to solve the issues and pursue the opportunities that occur in the marketplace.

So that is what we are building here at People, Ideas & Objects, our user community based on our user community vision. A dynamic, innovative and profitable oil and gas industry has to be based on a dynamic, innovative and profitable method of organization, software, and user community. We have the Preliminary Specification which has the business models that provide the producer with those attributes. We will build the software that has those attributes once we have built the user community. What we need to do in the next five years is to build that user community that will lead the oil and gas industry and provide for it its dynamic, innovative and profitable nature.

To give an example of how this will work. The user community will realize that the shale reservoirs are creating a new dynamic in the oil and gas industry. One in which the marketplace is being flooded with the commodities. A new and unique situation to the oil and gas industry. What is necessary is for the oil and gas producers to move away from the price taker position and become price makers. This can be done through the Preliminary Specifications decentralized production model. Therefore it is decided in the user community to implement the decentralized production model into the software at the earliest possible point in time. This is how the industry needs to be managed. Effectively and efficiently through the user community that is being established here and now.

You may ask what it is that a producer is to concern themselves with? What they need to concern themselves with is to how to produce their oil and gas at the highest possible profit that they can. Focusing on their competitive advantages of their earth science and engineering capabilities, and land and asset base they have a scope of operations that is within the realm of what is controllable. Being a price maker is not within a producers controllable domain and therefore better left to the user community to deal with. Other issues that the industry face will be able to be parsed in a similar fashion. What the bureaucracy has traditionally left untouched in their muddle along strategy will now be handled through the user community.

It will be through the user community that the producer will be able to have their needs for both the controllable and uncontrollable domains satisfied. Operating software for an organization in the 21st century needs to be built to accommodate change. At People, Ideas & Objects that is what we have done. By building a software development capability that works for the user community we are able to meet the needs of the oil and gas industry in both their controllable and uncontrollable domains.

The Preliminary Specification provides the oil and gas producer with the most profitable means of oil and gas operations. People, Ideas & Objects Revenue Model specifies the means in which investors can participate in these user defined software developments. Users are welcome to join me here. Together we can begin to meet the future demands for energy. And don't forget to join our network on Twitter @piobiz anyone can contact me at 403-200-2302 or email here.

Leadership in the User Community Part VI

We have been fortunate at People, Ideas & Objects to be able to quantify the differences between our method of organization and the current bureaucracies. Documenting the $705 billion in opportunity costs goes a long way to making our case for change. One area that is just as material in terms of the scope of change, however we are unable to quantify the differences, are the differences that are attributable to the toolset that we employ within the Preliminary Specification of automation, specialization and the division of labor. These will be material in their value to the dynamic, innovative and profitable oil and gas producer. Probably more material than those benefits that we are able to quantify today.

It will be up to the leadership team of the user community to ensure that we employ the toolset in the development of the user community and the Preliminary Specification. This will be a difficult aspect of their work in terms of how it is undertaken. With the reorganization of the industry and reduction in size of the prototypical producer. The service provider becomes a specialized provider who uses their division of labor to approach the entire oil and gas industry as their client base. This of course is an entire new way of organization and perspective of how things are done. The scope of the change is tremendous. The size of the G&A resources that are being shifted in this reorganization are quantified in the region of $40 to 60 billion per annum.

Our leadership will need to spend a significant amount of energy on this topic in order to make this transition effective. I suspect that, in time, the Preliminary Specification will be seen as a desirable method of organization by many in the oil and gas industry. The demand to proceed with the Preliminary Specification will be strong and we will need to have this issue worked out effectively in order to satisfy that demand. This may be one of the critical points that we need to provide to the investors to be able to satisfy them in their decision to choose the Preliminary Specification over the bureaucracy.

The monetary value from the specialization and division of labor changes would be significant. From today’s resource base the North American producers may be able to approach the concept of energy self sufficiency. A material increase in the continents throughput without any footprint increase in the size of the human resource base. How does someone quantify that value. But this is the value of specialization and the division of labor. The ability to increase production from the same resource base. And what we do know is that the producers have been unable to exercise any advantages from specialization and the division of labor due to the constraints of developing all of their capabilities within their organizations. By moving to an industry wide capabilities development we are able to fully exercise the value of specialization and the division of labor in the administration and accounting fields, and earth science and engineering disciplines. Applying this toolset to essentially very fertile fields.

Taking a process and defining it and managing it on the basis of an industry wide capability will need to be the focus of the user community and particularly the leadership of that user community. I think if we have a good answer for how we will conduct this operation and implement it within the People, Ideas & Objects Preliminary Specification. How it will be organized with the service providers organizations and the structure of their work. We will be on our way to convincing the investor and the people within the industry that our solutions is the better solution for the industry in terms of profitability for the oil and gas producers and the people who work in the industry.

The Preliminary Specification provides the oil and gas producer with the most profitable means of oil and gas operations. People, Ideas & Objects Revenue Model specifies the means in which investors can participate in these user defined software developments. Users are welcome to join me here. Together we can begin to meet the future demands for energy. And don't forget to join our network on Twitter @piobiz anyone can contact me at 403-200-2302 or email here. 

Leadership in the User Community Part V

Looking at the overall scope of what can be accomplished by the leadership team and the users in the user community. It is important to remember that the user community has the wherewithal to make this happen. This is documented in our user community vision and includes the money and power that the community has at its disposal. So it is one thing to define broad strokes of a vision of what is possible, as I did in last weeks posts. And another to provide that community with the means to undertake that vision. And I think those mechanisms are within the domain of the user community and its leadership team.

The Preliminary Specification provides a solid vision and workable framework of what an alternative means of organization could be for the oil and gas industry. It works in that there is no deficiency or major failing where there is a breaking down in logic or implementation. It is a result of my vision of what could be, and a decade of very painful research. It is also incapable of providing the industry with the ability to be operated upon, as it stands today. It needs the input of thousands of others who work and understand what and how the industry operates. It is now time for these people, the users, to have their input into the process and build on the framework and vision that is the Preliminary Specification. I have nothing more to add.

This is the job of the leadership team as well. To guide the further development of the Preliminary Specification from its current framework to a comprehensive understanding of what and how the industry operates. With a detailed understanding of what jobs are required, what those jobs consist of and how those jobs are done. And how the software will be developed to serve those users. This needs to be done from stem to stern in terms of the number of people that work within the oil and gas industry. Earth science and engineers, land, legal and support people that are employed within the oil and gas producers. Administrative and accounting people in the service providers. And those people that are in the field and their head office resources of the service industry. This documentation needs to be comprehensive and complete.

And this work will be done with an eye to the understanding that the overall business models of the industry are under the user communities control. That to earn a profit and to be efficient is inherent in the software that the producer uses. That our societies today are structured and defined by the software that its people and organizations use. And that the user community is how the people within oil and gas and the producers use the software that the user community are responsible for. With this immense power comes immense responsibility for the leadership team. Oil and gas producers may own the oil and gas assets. However without access to the software that makes the oil and gas asset profitable, they have an albatross around their neck.

When the Internet came about in the mid 1990’s people saw the potential that this technology could have on society. As a result we had the technological boom in the late 1990’s that saw business models being rewritten by anyone with the ability to host a website. What subsequently happened is well known as the .com crash and the Information Technology field has not been the same since. There has been little in terms of employment opportunities. Businesses have not spent money in this area as it is perceived as a lost cost. And people don’t go into the field due to the generally negative feeling they get that technology is not necessarily the place you want to spend a career. What we do know about change is that change is always overestimated in the short term, and underestimated in the long term. We are definitely at the underestimating stage of the changes brought about by the Internet. What we are doing with People, Ideas & Object and the user community is what is necessary but also what is possible as a result of the maturing of the technologies in the past decades. The power has shifted, when will you.

The Preliminary Specification provides the oil and gas producer with the most profitable means of oil and gas operations. People, Ideas & Objects Revenue Model specifies the means in which investors can participate in these user defined software developments. Users are welcome to join me here. Together we can begin to meet the future demands for energy. And don't forget to join our network on Twitter @piobiz anyone can contact me at 403-200-2302 or email here. 

Leadership in the User Community Part IV

Yesterday we discussed the career risks to those that may take the plunge and join the user community in one of the many leadership positions that are open. Today I want to discuss what it is these people will be doing if they do join. And what impact they will have on the oil and gas industry in the mid to long term. It would be my opinion that the work that is being done in People, Ideas & Objects and the user community will be some of the most interesting work that has ever been undertaken in the oil and gas industry. Few opportunities of this scale would come around within the lifetime of an individuals career, if at all. I have stated before this may be a once in a century type of opportunity.

The bureaucracy has been the prevalent form of organization in business since they took over from the merchants in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. What we are doing with People, Ideas & Objects and the user community is retiring the bureaucracy and replacing it with a new form of organization primarily focused around the Internet. This is the trend that is happening in all industries as the Internet is capable of providing greater efficiency in terms of the management of our organizations. This is the scale of the changes that are being made through the implementation of the Preliminary Specification and the development of the user community.

To participate in this level of revolutionary change. That is on such a scale, is a once in a century type of opportunity. The opportunity to take today’s prototypical producer firm and convert it to the one that operates under the Preliminary Specification and the user community doesn’t exist. The scope of change necessary is beyond what is humanly possible. The forces of inertia from the bureaucracy would need to be fought at every step and our energy would be wasted in such battles. So we chose not to concern ourselves with such battles and instead rely on the forces of creative destruction to make the choice between the performance that the bureaucracy provides, and the solution that we present here with the Preliminary Specification and the user community.

The transition from the bureaucracy to the Preliminary Specification may be as a result of successful producers buying out laggard firms that refuse to change. That is the normal course of change as a result of creative destruction. We don't know and we certainly don’t care. What we are concerned with is that we provide the most profitable means of oil and gas operations. And with the Preliminary Specification we already have a material difference in our value proposition. This will be the focus of the development of the user community and particularly the leadership. One area of our value proposition that we are unable to quantify is the value that we will be able to provide the dynamic, innovative and profitable producer due to the toolset that we implement within the Preliminary Specification. And that toolset currently consists of automation of the business process, specialization and the division of labor. With the configuration of the industry into service providers there is ripe material here for the ability to significantly add more value to the industry.

So it is these topics and areas of focus that will be the domain of the leadership within the user community. Very high level, once in a century type of work that will be something an individual can highlight their career with. The changes we are making are dramatic and will have a material effect on the performance, makeup and manner of how the oil and gas operates for the next 50 to 60 years. Foundational work that is material to how the producer performs, and since our organizations are a critical part of our society, healthy organizations lead to healthy societies which lead to healthy individuals.

The Preliminary Specification provides the oil and gas producer with the most profitable means of oil and gas operations. People, Ideas & Objects Revenue Model specifies the means in which investors can participate in these user defined software developments. Users are welcome to join me here. Together we can begin to meet the future demands for energy. And don't forget to join our network on Twitter @piobiz anyone can contact me at 403-200-2302 or email here. 

Leadership in the User Community Part III

There are significant opportunities that lay ahead for the people who participate on the leadership team of the user community. They will have a hand in developing the organization that defines the manner in which the oil and gas’ business model is defined and supported. As we have noted before, the motivation for participation is the power and the money that the user community and service providers will hold in the new oil and gas industry. That’s the upside, and for the individual members of the leadership team, this upside will be significant. There are however some risks, and most of all the costs associated with participation in the user community in any one of the leadership positions.

The first cost that you'll incur, particularly in the short term. Is that your connections that provide you with your source of income, whatever that is, a job, revenue in your firm etc. will be at risk to dry up faster than you can say “what happened?” The bureaucracy doesn't mind acting out against individuals and when they see an individual who is taking a position that is counter to their long term benefit they act swiftly and ruthlessly. If you need your job or are happy with your company you should think twice about a leadership position. Leaders are expected to suffer for their cause. And this will be the primary way in which you will suffer. I can almost assure you that you will not survive in your job or your business if it is discovered that you have taken a leadership position in the user community.

The upside is that you’ll have significant amounts of time to commit to the user community. The next five years will certainly draw in your time and tax your savings while you pedal backwards in your life while everyone else moves forward in theirs. This can be a difficult thing for some people to sustain. To maintain the necessary focus on the job at hand while their ship is being torn apart by the storm. Do you continue on where the sailing “might” be better or turn back to port. This takes a certain type of fortitude and is not the domain of the majority of the population. It takes a certain type of person. An “A” class entrepreneur I would suggest.

The prize is that there will be revenues that are established in the user community. In the current budget the user community has a budget of $333 to $667 million for the software development costs of the Preliminary Specification. These are for the initial commercial release. As we have indicated before People, Ideas & Objects and the user community are based on the changes that are required in the industry. It is those changes that are the source of our revenues. People, Ideas & Objects and the user community are very much going concerns for the long term.

In addition the members of the user community are the ones that are establishing the service providers who provide the administrative and accounting services to the oil and gas producers under the decentralized production model. It is estimated that the revenues for these service providers for the North American oil and gas industry will range in the area of $40 - $60 billion per annum. These revenues are a replacement of the current G&A costs of the producers. It will be the leadership team that would have the primary opportunities in configuring solutions within the user community and the service providers. Therefore the known risks that were indicated in the earlier part of this post are not without their significant potential rewards.

People, Ideas & Objects have a reasonably high profile with the bureaucracy. If your name should show up as being involved in this project, not something that we would do first of all, they would attack you and anyone who shared that name with you. We can do this quietly. And protect people as much as possible. The Internet will provide us with some anonymity for some time. It also reduces our costs to the time involved in this project. So if you can hold your position and work on this project outside your job, all the better. We just need to realize that we operate in an extremely hostile environment that is very dangerous to those who participate here. And we need to take steps to ensure that no one is subjected to the bureaucracies antics unnecessarily..

The Preliminary Specification provides the oil and gas producer with the most profitable means of oil and gas operations. People, Ideas & Objects Revenue Model specifies the means in which investors can participate in these user defined software developments. Users are welcome to join me here. Together we can begin to meet the future demands for energy. And don't forget to join our network on Twitter @piobiz anyone can contact me at 403-200-2302 or email here. 

Leadership in the User Community Part II

The first installment of "Leadership in the User Community" was posted on April 22, 2014.

We have consistently asserted that we provide greater value to the dynamic, innovative and profitable oil and gas producer over what the bureaucracy is providing today. Our focus on developing the user community, its leadership and the associated service providers is our primary task in the next five years. We do this as we are striving to provide an alternative means of organization to the oil and gas industry. So that the oil and gas investor, and the people who work in oil and gas can choose the bureaucracy or People, Ideas & Objects Preliminary Specification, the user community and service providers as the method to manage their industry. Organizations don't change. Therefore without alternatives we are stuck with the bureaucracy. If we don’t work towards building an alternative, nothing will change. And just as organizations don't change, people do. And this is the place where people can begin the process of changing the oil and gas industry from a tired, poorly performing, muddling along behemoth to a dynamic, innovative and profitable industry.

We have documented within the Preliminary Specification how it provides over $705 billion in opportunity costs over the current bureaucracy. There are additional benefits that are not quantifiable that can be gained from the tools of specialization and the division of labor. It is a new way of operating the oil and gas industry. And as we have stated here before. Even if the bureaucracy could park their own selfish self interest and wanted to proceed with the developments we would not begin until the user community was fully formed. The Preliminary Specification is a fine vision of what the industry can operate as. However without the user communities involvement in the software developments it will be a great vision without the appropriate implementation. There must be strong user community involvement in the software development of the Preliminary Specification. It is mandatory, and as I have pointed out the user communities development is our current number one priority for the next five years. We have set this long time frame as we are without the support of the industry. The bureaucracy are challenged by the Preliminary Specification. They are eliminated from the landscape by it and therefore don’t want to be part of it. Therefore they will not support us. And therefore we have to build the user community brick by brick and stick by stick. And that takes time.

We have set out the 28 leadership positions of the user community that we are actively seeking to recruit today. These people will form the leadership team and help to develop the user community over these next few years. In preparing an offering for people to make a decision to go with our solution. And what that is qualitatively and quantitatively is unknown and unknowable at this time. We need to figure that out. We have however proven that we provide substantial value over the status quo. And the logic is compelling. People can see where and how they fit in within the industry quickly and begin to effectively and efficiently do their job. Using the Joint Operating Committee is a very natural way of organizing the oil and gas industry.

What compels someone to even think that we need to develop an alternative to the current way things are done. I don't know, and as I have indicated this has been a long term prospect for me. What I do know is that it doesn't sound so crazy anymore. Industry after industry is being disintermediated by Information Technology. And that is what we are doing here with the Preliminary Specification. And it is timely from a business point of view. The prolific nature of shale reserves is demanding a new business model be generated for the oil and gas industry. A business model that deals with the resource abundance and price destroying nature of producers producing unprofitable production. A business model that deals with allocating production fairly, based on profits and doesn’t harm a producer with shut in production with excessive G&A costs. A business model like the Preliminary Specification supported by the user community and the service providers.

The Preliminary Specification provides the oil and gas producer with the most profitable means of oil and gas operations. People, Ideas & Objects Revenue Model specifies the means in which investors can participate in these user defined software developments. Users are welcome to join me here. Together we can begin to meet the future demands for energy. And don't forget to join our network on Twitter @piobiz anyone can contact me at 403-200-2302 or email here. 

Motivating the User Community Part II

Our discussion has been focused on the motivation that we can provide to those that may be interested in participating in the user community. And particularly those that might qualify for one of the 28 leadership positions that we are looking to fill in this the first phase of developing the user community. Yesterday we spoke of the monetary component of this motivation from the investor, user community and service provider point of view. Today we want to discuss the power and influence that the user community and service providers will have in the oil and gas industry. And how these intangibles are a motivating force for those that wish to participate in this project.

Right now the bureaucracy holds significant influence in the oil and gas industry. Things are done the way they are done due to the fact that the bureaucracy is the only manner in which they can be done. What choice does anyone have. Therefore this provides the bureaucracy with an inordinate position in terms of how the industry will be managed. We see this in the approach to natural gas prices. The industry is a price taker with no discussion on how to deal with the abundance of natural gas reserves from shale. The bureaucracy says take it or leave it, that is the choice in terms of management of the industry. There is also no influencing the way it is done, and there are no opportunities or mechanisms for change. This “muddle along” strategy has been ingrained in the mindset of the industry and has become the standard as to how issues are dealt with. This is the power that the bureaucracy currently holds in the oil and gas industry today.

If People, Ideas & Objects, the user community and the service providers were to remove and replace the bureaucracy we would essentially hold this same power in place of the bureaucracy. It is the administrative and accounting authority and responsibility of the industry that has the ability to enable and constrain its actions. Without the bureaucracy, our offering would fill the void of any power vacuum. However, things would be different. People, Ideas & Objects are structured through its Revenue Model to be oriented to change. Without change there would be no revenues flowing through People, Ideas & Objects. Without revenues through People, Ideas & Objects there would be no revenues flowing through to the user community. These two organizations are dynamically focused on changes within the oil and gas industry. It is the inverse of the “muddle along” strategy of the bureaucracy. The service providers have in contrast a steady flow of revenue directly from the industry in the form of service fees. Their service offerings are directly reflective of the changes being made by the user community and the People, Ideas & Objects developers.

So although the power that currently is held hostage by the bureaucracy will only be held by a different group as a result of our removal and replacement of the bureaucracy. We are directly accountable to our revenue streams to the industry. We are also wholly accountable to the industry for the changes that are necessary to keep the business models and issues up to date and operational. Something that is currently not contemplated. This accountability is given to the oil and gas industry in the form of a software development capability that is dynamic and available to meet the needs of the industry on a go forward basis. Something that is critical in the 21st century. We are offering an accountability and dynamic capability that is currently lacking in the industry business model.

At the same time it will be those within the user communities leadership team that will need to be able to exercise the skills and leadership necessary to ensure that industry is provided with the software, software development capabilities and services that are needed. This is a difficult task to undertake from the point of view of developing the software in its initial stage. And a difficult task in terms of what is required on an ongoing basis. They will need the power necessary to make the decisions and implement the plans that the industry will need to see this come about. And I think with the structure being discussed here and the user community vision that is provided the leadership team will be enabled. Promises of money and power are serious forms of motivation, necessary to complete difficult tasks.

The Preliminary Specification provides the oil and gas producer with the most profitable means of oil and gas operations. People, Ideas & Objects Revenue Model specifies the means in which investors can participate in these user defined software developments. Users are welcome to join me here. Together we can begin to meet the future demands for energy. And don't forget to join our network on Twitter @piobiz anyone can contact me at 403-200-2302 or email here. 

Motivating the User Community

It is the user community that will have a significant role in the oil and gas industry. Not only will it be a key element in providing the oil and gas producer with the most profitable means of oil and gas operations. They will be the manner in which the industry operates and moves forward. With its control of the business model, its ability to affect the changes necessary in the software that supports and defines the administrative and accounting processes in the industry, and a budget that supports their operation. They will have the wherewithal to exercise the power needed to remove and replace the bureaucracy when the time comes. Adding to this user community vision is our recent discussion of the service providers and how they are derivative of the user community. And you begin to see the role and responsibility that the user community takes on in the oil and gas industry.

I am looking for those 28 individuals who will be interested in making the investment of their time and effort in the user community to prepare an alternative means of organization to the oil and gas industry. These people will make up the leadership team for both the user community as an organization, and the positions as Product Owners for the modules of the Preliminary Specification. Having the organizational and product leadership team working to build the organization necessary to provide an alternative means of organization to the oil and gas industry is the task that we need to conduct and to invest in. We don’t know how this transition will be done at this time. We'll figure it out as we go.

What is clear is the bureaucracy will not work with us. They have had every opportunity to do so and the only actions that they have taken is to attempt to steal our Intellectual Property. They are not managing the industry for the best interests of the investors, they are managing it in the best interests of themselves. And they could care less whether the industry earns or loses money. Natural gas prices have been depressed for years and there is no plan, no argument, and no discussion in which to deal with the problem. For them there is no problem. The only issue they see is us, in offering an alternative to their franchise.

Does anyone see the bureaucracy operational in the year 2020? How about 2025 or further down the road? Is it a viable, long lasting organizational method that meets our needs today or in the future? How is it that we can change to a new model of administration? Do we ask politely and smile? Is that the solution? I think they have to be physically removed. I think we have to give the investors in the industry a choice as to which form of administration they want to have administer their assets. The bureaucracy, or People, Ideas & Objects with the Preliminary Specification as its product vision, the Oracle Fusion Middleware and Applications as our technological base and this user community c/w the service providers. I think we can win this decision if we are able to structure ourselves in a way that shows we are a viable option to the investors. And again, how we structure that viable option to the investors is unknown and unknowable at this time.

With the opportunity costs at $705 billion for the investors to help them to select us. With the user community having a budget of $333 to $667 million for the software development work. And the 75 - 80% of the industries $40 - 60 billion in annual G&A costs. There is more than enough motivation for everyone concerned to make this transition happen. And besides, I think it would be rather interesting and challenging work that would be very rewarding. Making the oil and gas industry the most profitable that it could be.

The Preliminary Specification provides the oil and gas producer with the most profitable means of oil and gas operations. People, Ideas & Objects Revenue Model specifies the means in which investors can participate in these user defined software developments. Users are welcome to join me here. Together we can begin to meet the future demands for energy. And don't forget to join our network on Twitter @piobiz anyone can contact me at 403-200-2302 or email here. 

My New Job

That’s right after all that talk about the history of what I have been doing the past 22 years and the next thing I do is go and accept another job! Yes but its a very good job and one that I think I can do very well. Its the new Chairman of the user community. I don't know if that is a board of governors or directors yet, as no one “owns” the user community as an organization so there are no shareholders. Maybe the shares of the user community are just held in trust with People, Ideas & Objects and the board of directors operates in the best interests of the user community. We'll figure it out.

A few days ago we discussed some of the leadership roles in the user community and for the product, the Preliminary Specification. My taking the Chairman’s position is an extension of that definition of the leadership roles and the beginning of establishing the leadership in the organization. I am making my appointment to the Chairman’s position a condition of the license that authorizes the user community to access my Intellectual Property. Other conditions include the right of the Chairman to hold two votes and that there be only six directors in total, including the Chairman. The Chairman also appoints two other directors.

As we proceed with the development of the user community the other leadership roles will be filled in. If you see yourself in one of the many roles that has been discussed here please contact me. We have much work to do in the user community. Building an alternative means of organization for the oil and gas industry is a large task. Putting together a leadership team is the first step in making that happen. In total there are approximately 28 positions in that leadership team.

Other than the directors roles, these roles are paid and all of them are full time, long term employment. That is when the financial resources are secured and the developments begin. Before that we have to prove that we are capable of providing the industry with an alternative means of organization to the current bureaucracy. And that needs to be done on the basis of an investment by each and every one of the members on the leadership team. What exactly that proof consists of, and how we go about providing it to the industry is unknown at this time. What we do have is the technological base in Oracle Fusion Middleware and Applications. The product vision in the Preliminary Specification. And now we need to build the means in which to provide the oil and gas producers with the most profitable means of oil and gas operations within this user community.

If not us then who. If not now, then when. And how will the bureaucracy be removed from the industry if not by force. Without an alternative being presented to the marketplace then there will never be an opportunity to select anything other than the bureaucracy. This is how we must choose to remove them from the landscape. They are not leaving, and they are not doing their jobs. It is therefore time for them to go.

The Preliminary Specification provides the oil and gas producer with the most profitable means of oil and gas operations. People, Ideas & Objects Revenue Model specifies the means in which investors can participate in these user defined software developments. Users are welcome to join me here. Together we can begin to meet the future demands for energy. And don't forget to join our network on Twitter @piobiz anyone can contact me at 403-200-2302 or email here. 

An Individual Plan

Cash starved producers are probably looking at the natural gas prices and the associated storage volumes and thinking that this summer is their chance to get some cash in hand. Although the prices are not that great, at well over $4 they provide the opportunity to pay the bills and have a little left over in the cash flow game. If they can spin that argument for six months, the time it will take to replace the storage volumes, maybe they'll be able to build some breathing room in the winter of 2014 / 2015. Lets face it, its been a brutal few years in the natural gas business. With these prices, it offers a slim opportunity to keep afloat.

If only there was a way in which the industry could allocate its natural gas production. So much pain and frustration would be eliminated. But it can't and most definitely it won’t. That would involve going hat-in-hand to People, Ideas & Objects and beginning with their developments. And we know that would require accepting that there are $705 billion in opportunity costs from what is being done today. And that just can’t happen. No one will ever admit to that.

There are just so many reasons that the bureaucracy will never proceed with our developments. We would be fools to think that we have an opportunity in working with them to make this initiative real. We are the ones that are going to have to make it real. Probably with the bureaucracy jumping on our back and standing in our way. I say bring it on and lets have some fun. So much of this is dependent upon the individual decisions that will be made by the people who work in the oil and gas industry. Decisions of when and where to join the user community. Decisions of how to drain the energy and life out of the bureaucracy as you keep that paycheck. I did mention this was a revolution didn’t I? A revolution where it shouldn't cost you anything.

It is the development of the user community that is our focus and our concern over the next five years. Keeping the day job during this time is of critical concern. What we need to be doing is providing an alternative means of organization to the oil and gas investor. Whatever an alternative means of organization actually means is something that we will have to define in the next five years. We have already set out the objective for the people who want to participate. And that objective is to provide the oil and gas producer with the most profitable means of oil and gas operations. We have talked about the leadership roles that need to be developed in the user community as well. The CEO, CFO, COO, and other roles within the user community itself. And other roles that are involved in the leadership with respect to our product. The twenty or so Product Owners that make up the modules, marketplaces and business models of the Preliminary Specification.

So we have much to do. We have a big adversary. We have more value to generate for the oil and gas industry than they’ll know what to do with. And we will have strong advocates, eventually. Ones who will be willing to bankroll our initiative. They're watching now and I think they like what they see. And if we add this user community to the vision of the Preliminary Specification, both of which will sit on top of the technological infrastructure of Oracle Fusion Middleware and Applications. They will believe that we do have an alternative to the current bureaucracy and will move to support us financially and provide us with the opportunities that we need. So this is what we need to do. Have a look around, if you like the way the industry is operated, we're probably not for you. But if you think there is a better way and the Preliminary Specification is a good start, then you'll know what to do.

The Preliminary Specification provides the oil and gas producer with the most profitable means of oil and gas operations. People, Ideas & Objects Revenue Model specifies the means in which investors can participate in these user defined software developments. Users are welcome to join me here. Together we can begin to meet the future demands for energy. And don't forget to join our network on Twitter @piobiz anyone can contact me at 403-200-2302 or email here. 

Leadership in the User Community

Our discussion has focused on the development of the user community and why that is needed to replace the bureaucracy in the oil and gas industry. What I wanted to talk about today is the first real ingredient of the user community in terms of its needs. And that is leadership. For all intents and purposes the user community is a separate organization that is driven by its own vision, purpose, community and stakeholders. Therefore the leadership is an aspect that needs to be developed from those who commit to the overall vision of the Preliminary Specification and desire to provide the oil and gas producer with the most profitable means of oil and gas operations.

And there will be two types of leadership that make up the user community leadership group. There is the organizational focused leadership group that will be focused on what the needs of the user community are. Secondly there will be the leadership group that provides the continuous leadership in terms of the business model for the oil and gas industry. This will include the twenty or so Product Owners who are responsible for either a specific module of the Preliminary Specification or an element of its development. I think now we begin to see why we have allocated the next five years towards user community developments.

This is the hard work of developing an organization that meets the needs of the software, the industry, the service providers and most importantly the people in the industry. To build an application on Oracle Fusion Middleware and Oracle Fusion Applications can be done by anyone with the money to do so. To add a vision as compelling as the Preliminary Specification to the mix adds a lot of value to the process. However, building a user community to define and support the Oracle and People, Ideas & Objects software will ensure that this environment becomes successful for all concerned. And that is the only manner in which I will continue with this software development project. It would be nice to have the financial resources to spend our way to building the user community. And maybe one day that will happen. But with the bureaucracies attitude towards us that is a non starter. We therefore should look forward to a process of building this user community brick by brick and stick by stick. Based on our capability of providing the oil and gas producer with the most profitable means of oil and gas operations. One day the resources will be there and we can begin these software developments. However we are not in control of that timing at this point so we must do what we can do, and that is organize ourselves for the eventuality of developing the software.

McKinsey Consulting have a good article on the topic of leadership entitled “Change Leader, Change Thyself.” And within it they have an exhibit that I can't reproduce. You can download the article and view the Exhibit for yourself. Its the one that details the roles and responsibilities of the CEO, CFO, COO and Human Resource Officer. Their focus of attention, their source of power and their sweet spot. It is those roles that need to be filled in the user community as an organization in the next five years before we begin development.

Other roles that will need to be filled are the 20 or so product owner roles we mentioned earlier. These are fascinating roles that take a premier seat in the software development team. They are the ultimate representative of the user community for the scope of the teams development authority. So if the team was developing the Partnership Accounting module the Partnership Accounting Product Owner would ensure that the user communities needs were understood and implemented in the software by the People, Ideas & Objects software development team. Having expert knowledge in the area, in this case partnership accounting, the Product Owner is able to interpret the user communities needs and desires and increase the effective communication between the user community and the development team. Ensuring that no misunderstandings or confusion between the groups cause delays or faulty software.

These are just some of the obvious leadership roles that are necessary in the user community. As we proceed in the next five years we will begin to put more elements of what is required and how we expect things to develop. However if you have any comments or concerns don't hesitate to contact me or use the comment feature on this blog.

The Preliminary Specification provides the oil and gas producer with the most profitable means of oil and gas operations. People, Ideas & Objects Revenue Model specifies the means in which investors can participate in these user defined software developments. Users are welcome to join me here. Together we can begin to meet the future demands for energy. And don't forget to join our network on Twitter @piobiz anyone can contact me at 403-200-2302 or email here. 

Update on Some Industry Activities

It would seem that some people are pretty thick. This post is directed at those individuals who are continuing with their activities that are counter to our Intellectual Property interests. We discussed in late October some of the industry actions regarding a group hiring Ernst & Young to conduct a study. Since that time the E&Y study has been pulled, as far as I can tell. However, that doesn't seem to have stopped those that originally hired E&Y. In a separate blog post entitled “Copyright Notice” on October 29, 2013. I provided notice to the officers and directors of the oil and gas producers. And noted their futility in pursuing any efforts that violated my Intellectual Property. Specifically noting that these are the Intellectual Property of myself and that they are lawful corporations.

It would seem to me that it is necessary to spell out some of the other implications of continuing on the path they are without People, Ideas & Objects, its user community, and the service providers that are part of the solutions detailed here. And those implications are to do with the software companies that may be selected to work with these individuals on these ideas that are the property of myself. If these individuals should select Oracle or SAP without the Intellectual Property secured, would Oracle or SAP go along? Seeing the deficiencies in their claim of ownership of the ideas that they want to develop, and Oracle and SAP’s reliance on the Intellectual Property laws that these individuals so freely breach. Will Oracle or SAP so willingly go along with an effort that really only compromises their own assets. Compromises them in that a challenge to the Intellectual Property laws is a challenge to all who use those laws. And would Oracle or SAP be complicit in the breach by participating with these individuals developments?

Secondly if a local software provider were selected to avoid the above concerns would they be able to raise the capital necessary on the markets to fund the developments? If the local software developer was unable to rely on the Intellectual Property that they are developing then they would have no asset in which to leverage in the investor marketplace. They would be wholly dependent on the producers for their revenue stream. This is consistent with the revenue model that we have established in People, Ideas & Objects. Our revenue model establishes this method due to the fact that the oil and gas producers, as a market for ERP systems, is extremely small.

Lastly if these individuals were to continue with their current plans and defied the IP laws for the foreseeable future and produced a workable solution. What producer would use the application that glowed radioactive in terms of its use. Any use by any producer would subject them to litigation for the violation of the Intellectual Property that these individuals so carelessly refuse to recognize. In any scenario you must uphold the law. It is the 21st century and the Intellectual Property laws have matured. It is time to come out of the dark ages.

For the industry to have the IP that currently resides with me provides them with no strategic competitive advantage. It is however the competitive advantage that is used by People, Ideas & Objects, the user community and our service providers. Daily use of this Intellectual Property by these people is necessary to conduct their jobs in providing the software and services to the oil and gas producers. Providing the oil and gas producer with the most profitable means of oil and gas operations. People who wish to compete with us will be required to establish their own Intellectual Property. This community has its own property and will be mindful of any abuse by others.

The Preliminary Specification provides the oil and gas producer with the most profitable means of oil and gas operations. People, Ideas & Objects Revenue Model specifies the means in which investors can participate in these user defined software developments. Users are welcome to join me here. Together we can begin to meet the future demands for energy. And don't forget to join our network on Twitter @piobiz