Have you ever heard of the story of the ancient Chinese farmer?
You know the one that takes place far, far away in a rural community in ancient China.
You see back then a man’s worth wasn’t measured by his monetary gains. Instead a man’s worth was determined by the amount of land, livestock and sons he had.
My farmer had one horse, one son and a big piece of land, so he was doing pretty good.
That is, he was doing pretty good until the day he forgot to lock the gate and his horse escaped.
Word soon got out and all the villagers came running over.
Crowding around him, they said: “Isn’t this awful? How are you going to get all your work done without a horse? Isn’t this just the worst?”
The farmer looked at them and he said: “Perhaps.”
Because you see the very next day his horse came back and brought with him a wild stallion – followed him straight into the pen.
Word soon got out and all the villagers came running over.
They said: “Isn’t this amazing? Think of all the work you’ll get done with two horses! Isn’t this just the best?”
The farmer looked at them and he said: “Perhaps.”
Because you see the very next day his only son was trying to break that wild stallion when he was thrown off and broke his leg. Back then there was no other remedy but to lie in bed for weeks on end.
Word soon got out and all the villagers, nosy villagers might I add, came running over.
They said: “Isn’t this awful? How are you going to get all your work done without your son? Isn’t this just the worst?”
The farmer looked at them and he said: “Perhaps.”
Because you see the very next day the Chinese army came to town to draft conscripts. These guys were poorly trained, poorly armed and placed directly on the frontline. Their mortality rate was through the roof.
But his son broke his leg. He couldn’t be drafted.
Word soon got out and all the villagers came running over.
They said: “Isn’t this amazing? Think of all the work you’ll get done when your son is better! Isn’t this just the best?”
The farmer looked at them and he said: “Perhaps.”
You see the amount of information the villagers had directly influenced their perspective – either good or bad.
Information influences perspective.
And the point is we’re going through something quite similar in oil and gas industry. We’ve had job losses, contractor rate cuts, projects being pulled and new exploration slowed to just above a snail’s place.
And there are a lot of people out there saying: “Isn’t this awful? How will we get our work done? Isn’t this just the worst?”
At Energy Voice we’re saying: “Perhaps.”
Because maybe it is. But maybe it’s the best opportunity we’ve had in a long time to emerge on the global stage a better, faster, safer, more efficient version of our former self.
But before we can form that perspective we need information and that’s exactly what Energy 2050: Securing our Future is about.
The research is a year-long global gathering of the viewpoints, facts and figures we need to arms ourselves with the knowledge to better form our own perspective.
Because as we know – information influences perspective.
So here’s my call to action. It’s quite simple – take part. Nearly 900 respondents participated in our first wave of research. Imagine the kind of information we would have if we doubled that number.
