Shell's restructuring

From early June 2009. Many posts followed about the subsequent transition

So, after the long period of waiting, the changes have arrived. Shell needs some shaking up, so it is good that it happens as soon as possible and as quickly as possible.

It is hard to argue with any of the logic of the communications coming out of Berlin. The headlines are all indisputable, and the messages you have to dig a bit deeper for are welcome too. In the latter category I would include a radical reduction in SEG’s achieved via simpler structures, a desire for pacier decisions, a smaller corporate centre, and a stronger focus on execution – for example in upstream assets or major projects. For my taste, I’d have liked to read the words customer and external with higher prominence, but they were certainly there in the intent.

Read the communication, and think Shape, Simplify, Accelerate. Different words are used, but very much the same intent is conveyed. Having achieved a Group-wide emphasis on those values, recognition of the brand value of Global Solutions, and a higher profile for technology and projects under unified leadership, Greg Lewin can move on with his head held high.

Of course, Peter Voser will know that very little of this is achieved by shuffling the senior pack into a different configuration. It becomes more obvious with the new announcements this week that abolishing silos is never achievable, that all organizational structures of large businesses have interfaces to be managed.

So I’m looking less at how the boxes are shuffled, and more at the names that will fill the boxes. How brave will we be at advancing talent? Will the newcomers epitomize the values of decisiveness, execution, pace, customer focus? And, even more, the real test will come with what these leaders actually do. Who will volunteer to have a smaller empire and minimize turf type discussions in the interests of simplicity? Who will set tough external goals and then achieve them? Who will truly inspire and motivate their teams? Who will drive common sense decisions even when the mandates and structures are not so clear?

In the meantime, what of the rest of us? We all have a chance to demonstrate these same leadership values, whatever our position. Did you feel everything grinding to a shuddering halt two weeks ago? Did you sense a sudden lurch into internal politicking, deferred decisions, career discussions and CV polishing? Yes, I felt it too, and it won’t go away for a while, unless we fight it. Whenever a company goes into reorganization mode, it tends to be an opportunity for its competitors – to do deals, to keep both eyes firmly on the customer, even to poach some top staff. I’ve seen this many times – sometimes at the benefiting end, other times the suffering one. Shell cannot afford to suffer at the hands of our competitors now.

The senior leaders have to be role models just now, but we can do a lot ourselves even while some of them are distracted. Display some vulnerability – at times like this the risks may be a little higher, but so are the rewards. And remember customer - what deal did you do today?