Brief: Using a Drilling Management System To Build a Learning Organization

Abstract

Summary A fundamental problem facing any drilling organization is learning. The geologic environment is never perfectly known, and the organization is never entirely certain of the best way to drill a particular well. This is especially true in areas where development wells do not number in the hundreds. This means that drilling organizations are faced with the challenge of learning how to apply technology better in a partially unknown environment. This paper describes a computer- based management system to make organizational learning a part of the way drilling teams do their everyday business. The system, the drilling management system (DMS), uses commonly available software on IBM-compatible PC's. Fundamental Drilling Problem This paper describes a software-assisted approach to implement the principles of learning organizations in drilling teams. This effort is supported by two basic points, either of which might suffice as justification. First, the U.K. government has mandated that operators be able to demonstrate an auditable trail for drilling operations by 1995. This means that the basis for every drilling decision must be known and recorded. Second, there are significant financial advantages for drilling organizations that can learn quickly. (Studies have shown that even good drilling organizations spend 10% to 25% of their budget on learning; poor organizations spend more.) The purpose of the DMS is to address both issues by institutionalizing the features of "learning organization." A learning organization defines specific goals linked to its bottom line, remembers how decisions were made, accurately monitors performance, builds an accessible reservoir of experience, and uses this experience to adapt its practices to "do it better next time." The DMS institutionalizes these principles by making it easy for drilling team members to perform each of these functions as a part of their normal course of business.