What does a sense of purpose have to do with anything, you may ask? The exploration and production (E&P) business is about rocks, rigs, and remotely operated vehicles (ROVs). It is about compound average growth rates (CAGR), return on average capital employed (ROACE) and great health, safety, security, environment, and social responsibility (HSSE-SR) performance. It is not about soft stuff such as a sense of purpose, passion, and creativity, or is it? I am going to try to convince you that it is. The two are the yin and the yang of E&P or the hard and the soft side of E&P. After 36 years in the industry, I have come to realize that the hard side of E&P actually is soft, since delivery depends 100% on the human element and that the soft side is the hardest to get right. The truth is you cannot have one without the other (Fig. 1). If a sense of purpose and passion are two key components of light, then strong growth and a healthy return on investment are the resulting shadows. You cannot have the shadows without the light.
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