Sunday
Aug152010
by 
Bishop Hill
Bishop Hill Big oil day out
Many thanks to the Scottish Oil Club who invited me to attend the talk given by former BP boss, Lord Browne, at the Edinburgh Book Festival. Browne has a book to push, with the self-effacing title: Beyond Business: An Inspirational Memoir From a Visionary Leader. The title of the talk itself was equally understated: The Story of a Corporate Superstar.
I can't help feeling I haven't quite got a handle on the self-promotion angle to being a writer yet.
Reader Comments (12)
The meek shall inherit the Earth
This seems to be the way to go nowadays. If you cant tell an interviewer that you are a great team player, wonderful leader, proven expert in your field and that your main faults are that you work too hard and cannot put a problem down till you have solved it, well, then you will get nowhere!
I have been told that he believes his only fault is that he is too modest.
I saw the title and thought he was North Korean.
Don't blame yourself. These things take time. At first, diffidence is only natural. You cannot expect to go from thoughtful diarist to irreflective chump all in one day. It's expecting too much.
I was wondering, has anyone commented on parallels between CRU and N.I.C.E. in C. S. Lewis's novel "That Hideous Strength"? The sapping effects of fear, insecurity and tacit coercion on the principals of both seem strikingly parallel when reading HSI.
Pluck
Seaford, Virginia
Now you will be irrevocably tarred with the brush of having accepted the Big Oil Dollar ;-)
Visitors to BP's offices at Canary Wharf in the Browne era were impressed by the fashionable tan suits that the numerous reception staff wore. No doubt BP's equal opportunities policy applied in the selection of staff for these important roles.
All part of the vision
Cheers
John Browne is the man responsible for changing BP into the company which had a terrible safety record. He also adopted an enthusiastic but bogus 'green' agenda looking to add to profits by gaining big subsidies for dodgy projects. I wonder if he discusses BP's safety record in his book.
I have nothing in principle against Big Oil, but Browne is absolutely the worst of the worst. He also admitted lying under oath, and only avoided a trial for perjury because the judge thought that the loss of his good name and reputation would be punishment enough. I wonder if he tells us about that in his book.
andyscrase
The meek shall inherit the Earth
You forgot to add "once I am done with it!"-- John Browne
I suspect that he's an example of the category "frightful little oik".
Having met lots of senior people in business who wear their ego on their sleeve, rather than put it in their pocket, I would go for "substance over form" every time...
In the full light of hindsight John Browne turned out to be strangely flawed. His early performance at the time when BP took over Amoco seemed good. But before he came BP's safety record was exemplary and BP was much to sensible to have got involved in the phony "Beyond Petroleum" nonsense.
It is hard to believe, but it appears he genuinely did not understand that it was nonsense or how unsound the science behind AGW alarmism.
I used to think he was a truly brilliant man and it is quite hard to come to terms with the fact that