Hello Alfred

Below is the crap we receive from our ‘leader’. It continues to baffle me that these politicians keep finding hollow words for their messages that never change. This cowboy from Wyoming expects a few things to be different this year (see bullet points at the bottom). This means in his eyes:

- We are NOT honest to each other.

- We do NOT learn quickly from mistakes

- There are gaps in the Operating Model (actually his personal invention)

- We do not simplify things and try to make shortcuts

All these statements are actually correct!!

Good to hear this from the ‘leader’ who is very good at scaring the hell out of his underlings and who simply will quench any opinion (and the bringer of that opinion) which does not lead to more bonus for himself. He is the prime example of how NOT to make a learning organisation.

A true learning organisation must be especially honest to itself. Bad news must travel fast without killing the messenger. And people must have fun. The rest will then follow automatically.

But surrounding oneself with sycophants, being very angry when bad news surfaces, destroying the messengers of the bad news and then publishing crap like the stuff below, is like in the old Kremlin days. They said something and did something else. We all know what happened to them.

I am so glad your website is open for sharing this with others.

A disgruntled shell employee.

LEAKED SHELL INTERNAL DOCUMENT DATED 30 JANUARY 2006

Message from Tom on 2005 Performance and Looking Ahead
30-Jan-2006
Tom Botts, Executive Vice President - Europe

Colleagues,

First, let me wish each of you a happy and safe New Year. I hope most of you were able to take some time off, relax, and spend time with family and friends. EP Europe is now in its third year---it's hard to believe. I want to tell you I am very proud of the progress we have made on many fronts. At the same time, I also fully recognise the many challenges we still have in front of us to really make EPE Europe 'be all it can be'. The key point for me is we are delivering very strong financial returns to the Group and our plateau production forecasts for the future extend further in time than ever before. In short, we are a cash engine for the Group and there is still a long future ahead of us.

Clearly the lowlights of 2005 are the four fatalities. We are making every effort possible to gain and embed all the learnings from these tragedies. Performance against our business targets was mixed. We generally did well on gas production, project delivery, providing growth opportunities, environmental performance, and recruiting new graduate and experienced people. We missed our targets on liquids production, opex, and of course have struggled getting the Corrib project back on track. Details of Group and EPE performance and the Business Performance Factor will be outlined in early February with the Q4 Business Results.

Looking ahead, we must shoot to meet or beat our EP Roadmap targets as outlined in the 2005 EPE Business Plan. Given the critical role we play in the Group, we must focus – month on month – on delivering our part. Our first priority remains safety. Thereafter the Roadmap targets of reserves, production, growth, project delivery, operational excellence and cost. All this is underpinned by using our professional skills and talents to their best effect. Those skills are our strength in EPE and they have really impressed me over the past 3 years. But we need to continue to help our people develop and contribute more effectively.

I know that last part is most important. If we don't get that right, we can't achieve what we've set out to do. Along those lines, I have sent a letter to your home address outlining the upcoming EPE Connecting Days which builds on the enhanced engagement we started at the ELN conference in Groningen in November. The EPE Connecting Days aim to bring together the entire EPE community to collectively review where we have come from, where we are going, and how we can make EPE better. My ELT colleagues and I look forward to seeing you all there!

Lastly, a word on what I expect to be different this year. Starting with myself and my Leadership Team, we will:

Have more honest talk and listening – bring issues into the room
Highlight successes, learn quickly from mistakes, and move on
Address the gaps in the operating model so we can maximise business value
Make the most of the EPE Connecting days to reengage the organization.
Find ways to simplify things, one step at a time

We are making progress and putting in place a sustainable foundation and legacy. As Jeroen said in his year end message, none of us joined Shell to be second best. If we stay on course, I know we will be a winning team!

Tom

Message from Tom on 2005 Performance and Looking Ahead
30-Jan-2006
Tom Botts, Executive Vice President - Europe

Click here for ShellNews.net HOME PAGE