SPE 86619
Integrating Sustainable Development in the oil and gas industry: the logical level
approach to enhance SD training effectiveness
Steven de Bie, Shell International B.V.
Nanda Gilden, Private Consultant
Copyright 2004, Society of Petroleum Engineers Inc.
This paper was prepared for presentation at The Seventh SPE International Conference on
Health, Safety, and Environment in Oil and Gas Exploration and Production held in Calgary,
Alberta, Canada, 2931 March 2004.
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Abstract
More and more oil and gas exploration and production com-
panies are aware of the shift they need to make in their efforts
to perform, both environmentally and socially. Societal con-
cerns require a significant change in business management in
order to maintain their license to exist. Sustainable Develop-
ment (SD), together with Corporate Social Responsibility
(CSR), has become a major issue for oil and gas companies
and their operations. Companies try to live up to the respective
expectations through integrating SD into their business.
Consequently, both management and staff of oil and gas
companies have to be aware of the values and principles that
come along with SD, and to understand the importance for
their license to exist and continuous improvement of overall
performance. They need to know about instruments and tools
that facilitate them to integrate SD in daily operations. Also
they need skills and competencies to communicate with their
colleagues, management, contractors and relevant stakeholders
on their efforts, obstacles and achievements.
We developed a two-day SD-training module that contains
all these three elements: awareness, instruments and tools, and
communication skills. The training module pays special atten-
tion to provide a lively mixture of focus on awareness and
commitment, and familiarising with practical tools, techniques
and skills for daily practice at the one hand, and working indi-
vidually and in small groups alternately at the other hand.
We realised that managing change, increase awareness and
adoption of new tools and techniques can only be effective if
provided at the appropriate logical level of an employee, at
his innate level of driving force, and at a corresponding level
in his company. Therefore the training module is structured
according to the principle that change at a higher level will
result in change at lower levels.
As we noticed the utmost importance of avoiding soft and
abstract discussions, the red line in the module is the focus on
practice and skills, bringing SD close to the people, their work
and individual habits, their individual ecological footprint, and
especially on giving the participants guidance how to contrib-
ute to SD the next day, at home and at work.
The training module was provided to various workforce lev-
els of a (western) EP company and judged by the participants
as being a highly appreciated and effective training.
We conclude that SD training modules such as the one we
developed can play an important and often decisive role in the
enhancing a companys license to exist.
Key words: sustainable development, training, change, com-
munication, logical levels, competence
Introduction
More and more oil and gas exploration and production com-
panies are aware of the shift they need to make in their efforts
to perform both environmentally and socially, as a response to
societal changes. First change is that society has lost their trust
in business; we have moved from a trust me to a show me
world. Business is expected to do the right thing everywhere
and at all times. Second change is that over the last decade
society has increasingly grown worried about the long-term
negative impacts on the environment and society as resulting
from todays economic development. The sustainability of our
world is at stake.
Responding to these changes requires a significant change in
business management: transparency, stakeholder engagement,
and social responsibility have become key words. Many oil
and gas companies have now committed to contribute to SD in
recognition of and the appropriate response to societal con-
cerns and the implications these could have for future busi-
ness. Sustainable Development, together with Corporate So-
cial Responsibility, is becoming an integral part of decision-
making and operations. Stakeholders of all sorts have various
ideas and expectations vis--vis this new way of managing the
business and they are becoming active players in shaping SD
in the business. Companies try to live up to the respective ex-
pectations through:
carrying out their business responsibly and efficiently so
as to deliver a robust project that will maximize benefits
to shareholders, the country in which they operate and
the local community
stimulating wider long-term economic, environmental
2 SPE 86619
and social benefits, thereby helping society to build a
sustainable future
consulting with key stakeholders, including the public,
regarding its contribution to sustainable development.
Consequently, both management and staff of oil and gas
companies have to be aware of the values and principles that
come along with SD, and to understand the importance of con-
tributing to SD for their license to exist and continuous im-
provement of overall performance. They need to know about
instruments and tools that facilitate them to integrate SD in
daily operating work. Also they need skills and competencies
to communicate with their colleagues, management, contrac-
tors and relevant stakeholders on their efforts, obstacles and
achievements.
Logical levels
An important element in managing Sustainable Development
in a company or organization, and improving the contribution
of each individual employee and hence, of total organisation to
SD, is the appropriateness and effectiveness of intervening
actions and tools. Scientific disciplines such as Communica-
tion and Psychology as well as Neuro-Linguistic Programming
use concepts that are of help to successfully solving conflicts,
improve communication and achieving change. From them we
borrowed the concept of the six logical levels or driving
forces see Table 1. Originally, this concept of logical levels
applied to conflict solving or change management in an indi-
vidual, but lately it has been adjusted to accommodate change
management in companies or organizations as well.
One could describe these logical levels as:
A higher level organises the information at lower levels
Change at a lower level could lead to a change at a
higher level
Change at a higher level will always result in changes at
lower levels
The professional communicator and change manager uses
these levels because of the following opportunities:
Enhancing the effectiveness of an objective: an objective
can be achieved faster and easier if the objective is con-
gruent with the levels above and below;
Clarifying an objective: if an objective is achieved very
slowly (if at all) or laborious, this objective often is con-
flicting with higher logical levels
Finding solutions: the solution for a disagreement or con-
flict sits at a level above the disagreement or conflict it-
self (you cannot solve a problem with the same type of
thinking that created the problem)
Estimating the consequences of change: change has more
consequences the higher the level at which this change is
taking place
Estimating the efforts needed for change: more effort is
needed for achieving change at higher logical levels than
at lower ones
Accompaniment and coaching differ in nature and ex-
pression at different logical levels.
Analysing the attitude of an individual employee vis--vis
SD awareness and implementation, one has to focus on these
different (hierarchic) logical levels of communication or driv-
ing forces (action determinants).
The differentiation in logical levels gives the possibility to
address the question: at which level in the individual employee
and in the company does one wants to improve SD awareness,
implementation and adoption of tools and techniques? This
framework then gives guidance to at which level(s) interven-
tions are needed, how to monitor progress at each of these
levels, and to define level-specific targets.
In general, the upper three levels are the most important ones
for improving SD awareness. The companys mission, SD
vision and strategy should be part of the identity of the indi-
vidual employee. He should become convinced that the best
in class SD performance is part of the companys culture and
thus become integrated into his own identity.
However, using the upper logical levels to achieve im-
provement in SD awareness, one should be aware of the inter-
dependence of the levels within the hierarchy and the impor-
tance of the levels being aligned. For example: when the com-
pany is able to convince each of their employees that oil spills
must be minimised, while time pressure on employees remain-
ing unrealistic high, the levels conviction and environment
are not aligned and consequently, the individual employee
becomes de-motivated as he cannot behave according to his
convictions and skills. Or: when someone is convinced that he
should separate different types of garbage, but suitable con-
tainers to perform this are missing in his working environ-
ment, it will be impossible for him to work according to his
convictions either as these are not aligned with his environ-
ment. Hence, to make sure that individuals have skills and
competences to act in accordance with their identity and con-
victions as well as to the culture and values of the company,
the company should guarantee that physical and relational
conditions are met in order to act in the desired way.
SD training module
Integrating SD into the business is an ongoing effort that re-
quires continuous attention and dedication. However, in order
to provide each employee with a basic set of tools to act ac-
cording to the SD vision of the company, to facilitate ex-
change of experiences, and to discuss ways forward, a dedi-
cated meeting has proven to be very effective. We developed a
two-day SD training module that provides the perfect envi-
ronment for such a meeting and contains the required basic
elements: awareness, instruments and tools, and communica-
tion skills.
The training module pays special attention to provide a
lively mixture of focus on awareness and commitment, and
familiarising with practical tools, techniques and skills for
daily practice at the one hand, and working individually and in
small groups alternately at the other hand. As we realised that
managing change, increase awareness and adoption of new
tools and techniques can only be effective if provided at the
appropriate logical level for change, the innate driving force,
the training module is therefore structured according to the
principle that change at a higher level will result in change at
lower levels.
The objectives of the training module are:
SPE 86619
1. raising awareness of the importance and possibilities for
SD in the company or organization
2. communicate, inform and discuss about the relationship
between SD and the way the company or organization is
currently operating in society, as well as the expected
way forward
3. provision of knowledge and skills that are required to
understand and to execute this SD way of living. One
could think of items like:
how to apply SD in our day-to-day business?
which special SD projects is the company doing;
which projects can or should we do?
which programmes (think of social investment pro-
gramme etc.) do we have and can we use or do we
need to develop?
which tools, procedures, techniques, instruments, cri-
teria etc. do we have and should we use why and
where?
which skills do we need (and may have to learn) to
apply SD (e.g. communication techniques, consensus
building skills)
The module we developed takes two full days, including one
evening. Maximum number of participants is 25. There are
two professional trainers required.
The module follows the following programme and content
(Table 2).
In the training we developed, focus is on raising or enhanc-
ing awareness for SD, on familiarising with SD tools and tech-
niques, on developing skills, and also on the ability to bring
the learned into practice.
As we realised that managing change, increase awareness
and adoption of new tools and techniques can only be effective
if provided at the appropriate logical level for communica-
tion and change (the innate driving force), the training module
is therefore structured according to the principle that change at
a higher level will result in change at lower levels. Conse-
quently, in view of the mix of objectives, the elements of the
programme are to be balanced with these logical levels of
communication and change. For instance, raising awareness
for SD means addressing individuals on the levels of spiritual-
ity, identity and conviction, and bringing the learned into prac-
tice means that employees have to develop skills and compe-
tences (capability), practice their behaviour and make sure that
the environment in which they need to apply their skills is fit
for purpose. At the same time, any training module, course or
workshop can be only most effective when participants feel
comfortable, respected and involved. This means investing in
the levels of behaviour and environment; the physical envi-
ronment concerns e.g. a comfortable meeting room, comfort-
able chairs, and good food, whereas the relational environment
comprises conditions such as good contact and interaction
between trainers and participants, open-minded and positive
attitudes.
In Table 3 the specific elements of the training module link
to the various logical levels of communication and change.
The following summarises the rationale of the sequence of
the module elements in relation to the applicable logical
levels.
3
The start of the training module is crucial for its effective-
ness: starting down to earth, making participants feel wel-
come and appreciated, investing in a good personal contact
and group atmosphere, making rapport with the group and
with the individual participants. The logical levels of commu-
nication to be addressed here are behaviour and environ-
ment (physical and relational). These lower levels are just
those two that are relevant for feeling at home. If one fails to
address these levels successfully, any effort to address issues
at higher levels of communication will be hardly effective, if
at all.
Only after a good down to earth start, there is an opportu-
nity to go to the higher logical levels of communication and
change. The second and third element in our training module
(association exercise followed by the subject what and why
of SD) are focused on bringing participants in contact with
their own values and convictions, their identity, and with the
identity (the vision) of their company. Raising awareness for
SD or a change of attitude at these levels are required in order
to achieve successful adoption of tools and techniques at a
later stage.
Then the next step can be made, bringing SD even closer to
the personal experience of the individual employee: calculat-
ing their own individual footprint to understand the difference
between their identity and conviction with respect to the
SD level of their personal life, and their behaviour in prac-
tice. Also it shows how the physical environment can influ-
ence the ecological footprint (e.g. distance between home and
working place).
Once SD is brought closer to the individual experience on
different logical levels, this opens the way to shift the discus-
sion to the company. Mission, vision and strategy of the com-
pany with respect to their role and activities in society are dis-
cussed and compared with that of other companies. These
three aspects relate to the highest three logical levels of com-
munication: it is about values of the company and codes of
conduct. As participants have been working on these levels
with respect to their individual SD association and experience
first (module elements 2 and 3), this can now more be dis-
cussed for the company.
The first part of the training very much focuses on the higher
levels of communication, it concerns awareness raising. The
next part of the training module descends in the hierarchy of
the logical levels by translating identity and conviction into
abilities to act according to ones values. The SD tools and
techniques is a very practical training on the level of skills
and competences and behaviour: it shows the applicable
instruments with relevant procedures, and how to use them.
Most of these tools and techniques could be labelled as hard-
ware. Some of them are more soft, e.g. about communica-
tion techniques, stakeholder engagement and consensus build-
ing. These soft instruments are very important in integrating
SD into the business and sometimes quite new in the E&P
world. It is of major importance to introduce these instruments
at the conviction level (why is it so important?) and at that of
competence (how to use?). The use of indicators in perform-
ance monitoring is an equally important instrument, being
down to earth and calculating the performance of people and
techniques at the levels behaviour and environment.
4 SPE 86619

The last part of the training module revisits the same levels
at which the module started: identity and conviction. It is a
two-step approach: the first step is enabling participants to
identify ten personal SD actions and ten actions for the com-
pany to do. Step two is reflecting on the meaning and percep-
tion of SD again and comparing these with those at the start of
the training module. Hence, this completes the circle.
The training module finishes with telling a metaphoric story.
Apart from the fun of listening to a nice story and then go
home, the main function of the story is to bring all the logical
levels together that are addressed during the two-day meeting.

The training module was provided to various workforce lev-

els of a (western) oil and gas company. It was highly appreci-
ated by the participants and judged as being a very
effective training.

Conclusions
As we noticed the utmost importance of avoiding soft and ab-
stract discussions, the red line in the training module is the
focus on practice and skills, bringing SD close to the people,
their work and individual habits, their individual ecological
footprint, and especially on giving the participants guidance
how to contribute to SD the next day, at home and at work.
Achieving the best result possible is largely dependent on
the degree of offering the various module elements at the ap-
propriate logical levels in communication and change. Equally
important is the alignment of the module elements: so will
introduction of tools and techniques be successful only if at
first the need for contributing to SD has been discussed at
higher logical levels (conviction and identity). So the
alignment of logical levels in relation to the objective of the
related module element is key for achieving the modules
overall objective.
SD training modules that integrate the provision of knowl-
edge and information, discussion and exercises with the hier-
archy of logical levels in communication and change such as
the one we developed can play an important and often decisive
role in enhancing the performance on SD of a company and
have a positive contribution to its license to exist.
SPE 86619 5

Table 1: logical levels in communication

Level Employee Company or organisation
Spirituality I am part of which larger world, which entity? What drives the company, what is its mission?
Identity Who am I? Who are we as a company, and how do we want to be,
what is our vision?
Conviction What is important and why? What is our culture, which shared convictions and criteria
do we have, which values and principles do we want to
demonstrate?
Capability (skills What am I able to do, how? Where lies our strength, which competences and means
and competences) do we have (and which not)?
Behaviour What am I doing? What are our products, which processes and structures
are in place, which procedures do we have, and which
behaviour do we show?
Environment What do I see, and to what do I react? What is our physical environment, what is our market,
who are our customers, clients?

Table 2: programme of the SD training module

Program element Purpose and description

Day 1 (9.30 18.15 and 19.45 21.15)

1 Welcome and introduction Making participants feeling comfortable; giving them a first idea of the need and importance
of SD for their company and for themselves, and an outline of what they can expect during
the two days.

2 Association exercise The association exercise is meant to gain insight in participants own, basic perception of
what SD is or should be. At the end of the workshop we reflect on this again.

3 What and why of SD
Presentation and in depth discussion about the need and legitimacy for SD. System thinking
elements and some history are part of this presentation. Key questions addressed: how
many people, at which level of technology, and at which level of human dignity and quality?
We use a metaphor (the house of mother earth, with all different rooms) to illustrate and
discuss all kind of SD aspects during the different programme elements of the module.

4 Ecological footprint The concept of the ecological footprint is presented and the participants fill in a Quick Scan
to calculate their footprint. With the results a discussion is started about everybodys individ-
ual take of the house, and how sustainable this is.

5 Role of the company in society
and what SD means to the com-
pany
This part consists of different subjects with different working methods:
1. interactive presentation about how some other companies deal with SD
2. what does society think of the company and how it operates?
3. what is the need of SD for our company?
4. from License to Operate to License to Exist
5. companys vision on SD
6. companys SD initiatives and actions

6 SD Tools & Techniques How to realise a real contribution to SD?

This subject is meant to give participants an overview of the T&Ts that exist and can be
used to contribute to SD and to increase the sustainability of day-to-day business and pro-
jects. Also, participants will apply some of these T&Ts in an exercise, containing the follow-
ing elements:
1. making an inventory of existing and relatively new T&Ts for SD within the company
2. applying these T&Ts on a case
3. conclusions (conc. 1&2) and short presentation on relative new T&Ts .

7 Communication Communication is an essential skill once a company has decided to contribute to SD. In this
element we have included some exercises, demonstrations, stories etc. about communica-
tion. Vital communication elements (as facts, meanings, criteria, perceptions etc.) are being
discussed which concluded with a list of communication rules, dos and donts etc.

Day 2 (8.15 17.00 h)

8 Consensus building
Consensus building is one of the most essential skills / methods for contributing to SD; it is
essential for the process to organise and furniture the house with people and/or organisa-
tions that have different interests. It applies for both internally in the company as for working
with external contacts.
In 4.5 hour the participants work on a consensus building exercise. The case requires a
close relationship to actual work in the oil and gas industry to be really effective.
6 SPE 86619

9 Indicators Very short presentation about the definition, use and characteristics of good indicators;
thereafter a short exercise with applying a set of indictors for the companys specific situa-
tion. The purpose of this is to show the importance of good, applicable indicators and to en-
courage participants to find a good SD indicator.

10 Top-10 SD intentions and ideas The purpose of this part of the programme is to come to more practical and concrete ideas
and feasible actions that can be worked out and carried out by both the employee and the
company.
First, the individual participants focus on the question: What can I personally start doing
now? Next, the whole group of participants focuses on the question: What can the com-
pany start doing now? This results in:
1. a list of personal actions for each employee to which they commit themselves. They
share their personal list with their colleagues.
2. A list of company ideas and actions, which are prioritised, and will be used as an input
in the SD action programme of the company.

11 Reflection on initial SD percep- Reflection on the results of the association/perception exercise at the start of the workshop,
tion thereby focusing on two questions:
1. has your personal picture and perception of SD been changed during the course?
2. what can you say about the meaning of SD for the company, now you have been in this
training module?

12 Evaluation & closing Evaluating the effectiveness of the process and content of the training module, and telling a
metaphor story to conclude with.

Table 3: elements of the training module

Levels of communication

Module elements

ENVIRONMENT
SPIRITUALITY

CONVICTION

CAPABILITY

BEHAVIOUR
IDENTITY

1. Welcome and introduction

2. Association exercise

3. What and why SD

4. Ecological footprint

5. Role of company in society and what SD means to the company

6. SD tools & techniques

7. Communication

8. Consensus building

9. Indicators

10. Top-10 SD intentions and ideas

11. Reflection on initial SD perception

12. Evaluation & closing