The document discusses establishing a high performance culture and operating context to improve project success rates. It notes that over 60% of project success factors relate to human behaviors and culture, not technical skills. Most project failures are due to softer aspects like leadership, mindset, and management processes. The document advocates intentionally designing an operating culture aligned with desired performance, and outlines a process to: 1) establish a project vision and culture, 2) define success conditions, 3) align on challenges, 4) identify gaps and pitfalls, 5) invent actions to address them, and 6) establish accountability reporting. This is intended to de-risk projects and drive performance beyond benchmarks through strong leadership, integration, and ownership of goals.

1. +
Journey Towards Superior Project Performance:
De-risking Projects & Setting Up for Success
December 2015

2. High Performance Projects
2
R
E
S
U
L
T
S
Now
Performance Drift
Past Future
Management
Predict/Forecast
VALUE JUMP
Leadership
Generate/Inspire
Business as Usual
Project 1
Project 2
What we
Want

3. Managing Learning and Innovation
“In order to be able to generate exceptional added value to their
shareholders, a company should be able to learn better than competitors
and use that knowledge wider and faster than them. Everybody in our
company has a function in the creation and distribution of knowledge for the
company to generate benefits.
We do the same things repetitively. Our philosophy is simple: Every time we
start something we need to do it better than last time.”
Sir John Browne, CEO BP

4. As substantiated by Ernst and Young, the Society of Petroleum Engineers, IPA &
the Offshore Technology Conference;
Ø We know that over 60% of the factors that make a project successful do not relate so
much to technical content, they relate to human behavior – the human factors that
drive individuals and teams actions, decisions & performance.
Offshore Technology Conference Take Away’s:
Ø 65% of project failures were due to softer aspects; people, mindset, culture,
organization and governance; (Leadership)
Ø A further 21% were caused by management processes and contracting and
procurement strategies; (Management)
“CULTURE EATS STRATEGY FOR BREAKFAST”
World-Class Performance:
4

5. 5
Why Address Operating Culture?
The Facts
The reasons most often cited for these failures are:
The Human Dimension (company, project & individual mindset/culture) is a
key determinant to de-risking projects & intervening in the 66% failure rate.
Resistance to change (not seeing how to succeed)
Limitations of existing systems
Insufficient alignment of targets & how project is to be managed
Lack of continuous and effective engagement with all stakeholders
Missing value-adding board support
Unrealistic expectations and insufficient FEL
Lack of fully integrated project team
Inadequate team skills/lack of sufficient resources
Over-Optimism (Myopia)
Lack of inspiration/engagement; Project vision too narrow

6. When we speak about culture we do not mean regional or country culture, although there is that
influence as well. What we mean by culture is the ”Operating Culture” or the “Operating Context”. The
Operating Context is the background frame through which people view the situation in front of them
e.g. their view of their tasks, their leadership, their project, their targets, the actions they take or do not
take and most importantly - their view of what is and is not possible in any given situation. Context
shapes peoples thinking; “Who can I talk to”, “who should I not talk to”, “do they really want me to
focus on safety or is it just time and cost”, “do I really have permission to honestly raise issues or will I
get in trouble.”
Context is the highly influential backdrop that shapes the thinking, action and ultimately the
results themselves.
Companies either have a context they intentionally design, roll-out, engage people into and embed
that is consistent with a desired future state of performance, or they end up with a default context that
merely builds up over time, an extrapolation of the past, without thought or intention.
§ It has become common knowledge among many Project Organizations & IOC’s that the
performance of individuals and groups is shaped by paradigms or contexts; that is, the
background that a group inherits and operates inside of; their unexamined views, attitudes, beliefs
& assumptions that form the highly influential operating culture (background context) through
which they view their leadership, their people, their initiatives and their work.
Operating Culture/Context: The Human Dimension
6

7. Without addressing these significant influences on people’s thinking, acting and performance,
one cannot be optimistic about achieving superior results or even results that are outside of business
as usual.
§ As stated earlier, the 65+% failure rate is business as usual.
§ The contexts (shaping the thinking, actions and performance) that produce “business as usual”
results are different from the contexts that lead to “high performance”.
Successful projects invest the time to the intentional formulation, roll-out, engagement &
implementation of World Class Operating Cultures that powerfully addresses these Human
Dimensions.
Operating Culture/Context: The Human Dimension
7

8. High Performance Projects
8
R
E
S
U
L
T
S
Now
Performance Drift
Past Future
Management
Predict/Forecast
VALUE JUMP
Leadership
Generate/Inspire
Business as Usual
Project 1
Project 2
What we
Want

9. How It Is Done
Creating Ownership for Effective Target Improvements
9
P
E
R
F
O
R
M
A
N
C
E
Bankable
Benchmark
Committed
Excellent
Aspirational
Superior
Must be
Co-Created
Performance Scale based on Key Performance Indicators
Management
Routine
Leadership
Non-Routine

10. How It Is Done
Capabilities for Leading Beyond the Benchmark
10
Non-TraditionalLeadershipCapability
Management
Technical/Routine
Creating Agendas & Timetables
Risk Identification and Mitigation
Planning & Budgeting
Resources Discipline Management
Contractor Management
Establishing Rules, Procedures
& Processes
Controlling and Problem Solving
Risk & Uncertainty Modelling
Leadership
Transformational/Non-Routine
Passion & Vision
Leading & Managing Critical
Conversations
Integrity/Authenticity
Engagement
Motivating & Empowering
Authentic Ownership for Stretch
Targets: Promise vs Commitment
Establishing New Work Practices
Leading into Difficulty
TraditionalProjectManagementTraining

11. How It Is Done
Process to De-Risk Projects for High Performance
11
Establish
Project
Vision &
Performance
Culture
Define
Conditions for
Success
(Goal
Achievement)
Align on 3-
Month
Performance
Challenges
Identify Gaps
between
What Is
Predictable
and Vision
Identify
Pitfalls
Invent
Actions &
Embed
Practices
Accountability
Reporting
(Gamify)
World Class
Inspirational
Engages the
Workforce
Breakthrough
for Industry
Project Goals
Defined
Ownership
Established for
Benchmark to
Best Possiible
KPI’s Articulated
Implementation
Plan
3 Month
Leadership &
Performance
Challenges
Measure
Effectiveness &
Develop
Interventions
Gap Analysis
How to get from
“Where we Are”
to “Where we
Want to Be
Focus Areas
Realism
Account for
anything that
can pull project
off track
(Known &
Unknowns)
Move into
Action
Invent Work
Practices to
Resolve Pitfalls
& Keep 3 Month
Challenges on
Track
Establish
Reporting
Structure for
Practices &
Progress
Rewards/
Consequences

12. 12
XLT (Rep)
PDB & PMT
Fully Integrated
PMT + Main
Contractors &
Key Vendors
Wider Project
Workforce
Roll Out &
Activate
Ø Align the Leadership – Hard & Soft Dimensions
Ø Realistic, Committed & Aspirational Project Goals
Ø Align on the behaviours, communications and work practices
Ø Proposed Scorecards & actionable project KPIs to Drive Behaviours
Ø Address Incentivisation
Ø Build Leadership Capability & Superior Collaboration
Ø Operate Effectively inside the Projects Vision, Strategy & Goals
& Build a Culture of Reliability
Ø Accelerate Project Startup & Achieve Results
Ø Rapid Resolution of Project Obstacles
Ø Cascade Ownership
Ø Establish a Performance Based Culture at Site Level
Ø Develop Fully Integrated PM Team & Ownership of Project Goals
Ø Key Contractors/Vendors Ownership of KPI’s
Ø Plan Quick Wins & 3-month challenges
Ø Procurement & Systems Integration
Ø Functional Teams Setup – Alignment & Commitment
Ø Establish Performance Champions
Ø Embed new practices to effectively coordinate work
Ø Capability to engage work force
How It Is Done
Structured Groups & Areas of ActivitiesGroupIGroupIIGroupIII
Who What needs to happen

13. 13
What Happens in a High Performance Project
Deliverables and Outcomes
DELIVERABLES:
Ø PMT fully integrated to
achieve the Project Vision
Ø KPI Ownership
Ø Plan for Quick Wins
Ø Idea generation for
procurement, systems,
processes and
integrations
Ø Coordinate work/
decisions
Build powerful
integrated PM team.
Develop ownership &
mind-set for the
breakthrough targets
& program.
DELIVERABLES:
Ø Develop business case
Ø Benchmarks
Ø Breakthrough business
goals and value jumps
Ø Proposed Scorecards
and KPI’s
Ø Incentivisation Scheme
Develop the business
case, performance
measures and
specific desired value
to be added by
stakeholders
Develop Executive
Alignment and Buy-in
Phase 1
Launch Project
Management Team
Phase 2
DELIVERABLES:
Ø Detailed plans for KPI
achievement
Ø Alignment and
commitment of functional
teams
Ø Performance champions
at functional levels
Ø Integrated project plans
Forge integration,
establish project-wide
breakthrough culture,
communication skills
and plans to produce
value jumps and
increase productivity
Full Project
Organization Launch
Phase 3
Establish capacity to
turn learning into
explicit knowledge.
Coaching to ensure the
project matures,
strengthens, produces
robust value.
Support and enablement
structures are created,
coaching relationships
are matured
Implement
Evolve/Coach
Phase 4
DELIVERABLES:
Ø Achieve results
Ø Idea generation and
implementation
Ø Project obstacles resolved
with new velocity
Ø Knowledge captured
Ø Leadership capability
accelerated