This has been a year of extremes.
First, we had the sweeping success of Piper25, where as an industry we reflected, reinforced and recommitted ourselves to becoming the safest province to operate in the world. There was a contagious, tangible optimism in the wake of that conference.
But then the summer hadn’t even ended before we found ourselves mourning the loss of colleagues once again. The reality of that helicopter crash was devastating, humbling and heart-breaking all at once.
So, yes, this has been a year of extremes. On one side of the spectrum we had optimism, on the other the overwhelming realism that we must always do better.
Those two factors – optimism and realism – reminds me of another man’s experience of unprecedented trial and eventual triumph.
His name was Vice Admiral James Stockdale. He was a prisoner of war for eight years, enduring the unimaginable.
But in James C. Collins’ book called Good to Great, Stockdale credited his survival with his ability to be both realistic and steady in the faith he would prevail.
Stockdale said: “This is a very important lesson. You must never confuse faith that you will prevail in the end—which you can never afford to lose—with the discipline to confront the most brutal facts of your current reality, whatever they might be.”
Stockdale understood that by marrying realism with optimism you are able to become resilient.
Resilience is what our industry needs more than ever. We can be steady in the belief that we will become the safest province to operate in the world, drawing confidence from our ability to reduce hydrocarbon releases by nearly half, the overwhelming response to our workforce survey and the increased levels of engagement we’ve experienced in the last 12 months.
Simultaneously, we can still confront the brutal facts of August 23 and any other safety incident.
The extremes we’ve felt in the past year needn’t leave us confused or wary of what’s to come.
Instead, if 2014 is going to be about anything it has to be about our resilience – as a workforce, as an industry, as a community – marrying optimism with reality in order to continue in our on-going quest for a safer workplace.
I look forward to the year ahead.
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