Most employeesI believed the Chevron Way that was held as the truth. That Chevron puts people and the environment first. There is these glossy pamphlets and management keeps repeating it, Then you start to see cracks in the system. Cracks soon turn to seeing that there was no Chevron way. This was during good times. That a fatality is dismissed. That environmental insult is explained away that you can not question bad decisions. That was 4 years ago during good times. Then these behaviors are magnified 1000% during the down turn. I do think people wanted to believe the Chevron Way. And it is hard to say otherwise as we can dismiss many things to push away the truth.
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Good anology, 150837. I think that sums it up for most of us.
I still believe in our core values. I do not believe in our management though. It's like going to church but knowing that the priest is corrupted and rotten to the core. You still believe in the ideals, but you despise the priest, right? There are so many good things that Chevron does, for the 'stakeholders', community, nation, etc. Yet, a bunch of white collar robbers, overtaken by greed, have taken over the company
Dunno what 'liberalism' has to do with it, but I certainly DO agree with the sentiments expressed here about 'touchy-feely' nonsense. The Chevron Way was ALWAYS (to which I'm committed) simply a means by which to distract employees from blatant managerial incompetence while the CEO's and their buddies gave themselves fat raises and loud praises. As I see it, it all started with Ken Derr, Jim Sullivan and their championing (ca. 1989) of the Crosby 'Quality' method. I was never sure if Derr & Sullivan were THAT stupid or if they simply assumed that WE were! Remember 'Better Than The Best'? Though oxymoronic, it was posted on a plaque in each of the Richmond Tech Center conference rooms. THAT's how lame it became!
(An "old" Chevron hand, here,...) Even when I began my career with Chevron, and that was "in the good old days", I knew one of the company's biggest challenges was simply "managing the herd" (think, Gary Larson - The Far Side). I never considered my assessment of the company, in this regard, pejorative, in the least,... am certain every large company wrestles with similar concerns and constraints. I do believe, however, that "creeping Liberalism" first appeared in Chevron, around 20 years ago, and gradually took root, throughout the organization, lead by the inept but willing clowns in HR, obviously with Management's consent. Prior to all the touchy-feely crap, it was easier to accept the necessary ruthlessness that comes with competition in the workforce. It was almost expected. But, as the culture changed, it is MY opinion that an noxious wave of expectation, entitlement, and victimhood rolled, insidiously, through the ranks. Rather than "shoot straight" with employees, management fell into a trap of non-confrontational "we love everybody,... just some more than others" mentality (which always struck ME as utterly hypocritical and totally disingenuous. But that's just me.), the "herd" fell into the dangerous mind-set of placing too many issues (ie., Safety, CPDEP, etc.) ahead of productivity, honest work ethic, etc. How many of us have watched entire organizations develop around Safety? Probably all of us. Those efforts became an end unto themselves, and while they do have merit, they don't translate, directly, to the primary mission of the company. It was organizational "fat", and quickly became a parody of itself. Perhaps The Chevron Way isn't really lost,... just buried by zeal which lead to a loss of focus. I hope that's all it is, and that Management can right the ship, while there's still time.
Well we still write drilling procedures; at least for now................
The Chevron Way is nothing but a way to district people and waste time. Cmon!!! We don't do crap in here. Our work is not around the clock. Is not like people are working 8 straight hours to complete work. Then of course someone had to come up with some lame excuse to stay busy, The Chevron Way, a way to filled in for the time you don't have anything to do. amen !