Get to know your community: 20 questions to Derek Park

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Each week, Oil & Gas IQ introduces you to a new member of our rapidly-growing global community. We set out to reveal what makes them tick, and what it is that makes them stand out through their work and life experiences. This week's respondent is our columnist and process management expert, Derek Park.

Q: Who is your hero and why?

A: Winston Churchill. He inspired his generation to fight for the freedom for my generation

Q: Who do you admire in the business world and why?

A: Jack Welch, because he said ‘an organization's ability to learn, and translate that learning into action rapidly, is the ultimate competitive advantage’

Q: What has been your greatest achievement?

A: Probably becoming the manager of a North Sea Oil Production Platform

Q: What is your greatest regret?

A: Laying down a musical instrument in my 20’s and not picking up another until my 50’s

Q: What is your favorite word?

A: Project (noun)

Q: What is your least favorite word?

A: Cannot

Q: What profession other than yours would you like to attempt?

A: Musician

Q: What profession other than yours would you not want to attempt?

A: Doctor

Q:Can you describe yourself in 3 words?

A: Older and wiser

Q: If you could meet any historical figure, who would it be and why?

A: Horatio Nelson. I would like to ask him about his inclusive management style which was so different to the autocratic norm of his day

Q: What is your favourite book?

A: The Cruel Sea, Nicholas Monsarrat

Q: What is your favourite film?

A: The Full Monty

Q: What is your most memorable quotation?

A: Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties, and so bear ourselves, that if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will still say, this was their finest hour. (Winston S Churchill)

Q: If your job requires a lot of travelling - what is your favourite journey?

A: Back home from anywhere

Q: What is your favourite dish?

A: Fish and Chips

Q: What food can you not stand?

A: The only thing I can think of is tripe! I would have a go at anything else!

Q: What is the quality you most like in men?

A: Resilience

Q: What is the quality you most like in women?

A: Family loyalty

Q: Where do you see yourself in 10 years time?

A: Retired…. but no idea where

Q: If you could do it all over again, what would you do differently?

A: Have some formal business training such as an MBA

Contributor:   Derek Park

Derek Park has 35 years experience of operational and organisational management in the oil, process and utilities industries. A chartered mechanical engineer, he spent time as a construction and commissioning manager on major offshore projects and was later an OIM in the North Sea. He has also managed operations on major pipelines and at onshore petrochemical facilities. During this time he realised that whilst the actions of people are key to the performance of any organisation, this is often not fully appreciated by managers and management systems.

He is a creator and developer of effective organisations and is driven by a belief that too many people spend too much of their time working on things that simply make no difference. He works directly with front line staff and advocates a ‘bottom up’ approach to transformation, complementary to the usual structural techniques. He specialises in engaging people in the change process, recognising that sustainable cultural change can only happen when people are prepared to take personal responsibility for transformation process itself.

Derek now works as an independent consultant and you can reach him at parkd@operations-excellence.com

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