Applying Upstream Thinking in Engineering Projects

You poured money into your agile transformation. Your teams are busy. Standups, retros, all the ceremonies—check. The reports say velocity is up. But look past the new roles, the vanity metrics, the maturity assessments. It still feels slow. Where’s the business impact? The old playbook says double down. Fix the teams. Bring in more coaches. More training. Push the flywheel harder. But most leaders I talk to are out of patience—and out of budget. So they give up. The theater rolls on. The old project mindset creeps back in. Here’s the hard truth: You can’t fix this at the team level. The problem isn’t your teams. It’s the game they’re forced to play. After 15 years helping companies build real agility, here's a better pattern that emerged as more sustainable and effective: stop trying to fix the teams. Go upstream. Fix the system they’re stuck in. Start or Pivot to the company or portfolio level. Create a company-level initiatives Kanban. apply the patterns and best practices of product ownership at the portfolio level. Use Lean Product Management to derisk your enterprise bets. When leaders engage at this level, they stop being passengers in a transformation that’s happening to them. They become the drivers. They get the power to lead real change. They can set priorities and make tradeoffs that create clarity for dozens of teams. Suddenly, alignment and collaboration become possible. Autonomy and Purpose unlock motivation and engagement in the trenches. They can limit work in process. That creates focus. It signals real leadership. They can reorganize around outcomes. Break painful dependencies. Point capacity at what matters most. I’ve seen it firsthand. A few well-placed interventions upstream lead to outsized gains: faster delivery, more innovation, clearer teams, real value. This video is an excerpt from a case study where leaders at a global futures exchange changed the trajectory of their SAFe-based Product Operating Model transformation when we went upstream to introduce a product-oriented leaner portfolio management approach. Going upstream used to be the maverick move. Most consulting firms avoided it. (can you guess why? hint - think of their incentives / business model ) Now, it’s going mainstream. Leaders like you want real agility ROI—not vanity, not theater. What's one small way you could go upstream next week? (if you want some ideas - happy to discuss)

Here’s something I don’t see anyone talking about: How engineering can reduce COPQ – especially in low volume, high mix manufacturing. Because this type of manufacturing mix focuses (mostly) on customized products, design quality is very important. Typically, design review quality varies dramatically project-to-project. If you don't manage design changes effectively, errors inevitably slip through the cracks - leading to greater downstream impact. Poor design quality upstream drives manufacturing errors downstream. These manufacturing errors make their way to production and eventually to their customer. This ultimately results in rework, scrap, and even returns or warranty claims. And a higher than acceptable COPQ. The problem is: most engineering orgs don’t practically make this connection in how they work day to day. Because they don’t own a COPQ number - but that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t. The highest performing companies we talk to get engineering directly involved in improving COPQ. They take the annual COPQ figure and set a target for engineering to improve it — by 1%, 5%, 10%, 15%… Then, it’s up to engineering to define and execute an engineering roadmap that delivers the target. There’s various levels of maturity to this: 1. Some companies don’t track COPQ at all 2. Some track it, but don’t assign engineering a portion of the target to own 3. Some give engineering a target, but don’t closely monitor attainment 4. The best give engineering a target, and that team hits the target consistently YoY For low volume, high mix manufacturing companies, reinventing a single design workflow can have a downstream impact on COPQ within the span of a year. Take Schneider Electric for example: by optimizing their Peer Check process, they decreased COPQ by 15% in less than 12 months. Simple doesn’t mean easy. It means taking a hard look at how your upstream engineering processes affect downstream manufacturing deliverables. And then being honest about how engineering can be more proactive in impacting these numbers. #copq #designreview #engineering

The Hidden Key to Upstream Success: Operation Readiness in Oil & Gas In the fast-paced world of Oil & Gas upstream operations, there’s a saying I always come back to: “Projects don’t fail at the end; they fail at the beginning.” One of the most overlooked—but critical—pillars of success in upstream operations is Operation Readiness (OR). It’s not just about ticking off checklists or meeting deadlines. OR is about ensuring the seamless transition of assets from construction to production while optimizing safety, efficiency, and profitability. Having been deeply involved in upstream projects, here’s what I’ve learned about what makes OR truly effective: 👉 1. Early Integration of Operations Input: Bringing the operations input and team onboard early ensures we identify potential bottlenecks before they become costly mistakes. The input during design and pre-commissioning phases can save millions later. 👉 2. Asset Acceptance That’s Beyond “Sign-Offs”: Asset acceptance isn’t just about paperwork—it’s about operational readiness walkthroughs, live testing, and ensuring every valve, pump, and control system functions perfectly under real conditions. 👉 3. Leveraging Digitalization: Smart tools like digital twins, predictive analytics, and real-time monitoring systems are transforming readiness planning. These tools not only streamline the process but also provide a level of foresight we couldn’t have imagined a decade ago. 👉 4. Building Teams for the Future: The human factor is critical. Training, competency assessments, and fostering a culture of ownership among operators are non-negotiable in OR. A team that feels confident is a team that delivers. For companies operating in high-stakes upstream environments, Operation Readiness isn’t a cost—it’s an investment. The ROI comes in the form of fewer start-up delays, lower OPEX, improved HSE performance, and ultimately, a competitive edge in the market. As someone passionate about optimizing upstream operations, I believe sharing knowledge and discussing best practices is key to pushing the industry forward. P/S: What’s your biggest challenge in achieving operation readiness for upstream projects? Drop your thoughts below—I’d love to hear how others are navigating this crucial phase of project delivery! #OilAndGas #UpstreamOperations #OperationReadiness #IndustryLeadership #EnergyInsights

When people, processes, and data are disconnected, we ship complexity to downstream teams. I’ve learned that the fastest path to custom solutions is to make configuration decisions early, with one place that holds the rules, options, and constraints across design, engineering, and manufacturing.     Look at what’s working in wind. A major OEM consolidated variability data into a single platform that spans DBOM, EBOM, and MBOM. They moved configuration upstream, validated buildable options before release, and handed off over 80 configuration parameters from sales to execution. The result was faster customer response, fewer ERP changes, and cleaner engineering change control.     The pattern is consistent. When configuration is scattered, lead times stretch and quality wobbles. When you build a common variability backbone, teams stop re-creating the same work, and changes like HSE actions or supplier shifts land reliably across every product variant.     Here’s the practice I use with engineering leaders in complex operations: define one variability model that the whole value chain trusts. Configure products early to prove feasibility and manufacturability. Tie change management to that model so updates apply across plants and systems without breaking schedules.     If you’re ready to reduce rework and respond faster, let’s compare notes on making configuration the calm center of custom work. 

Offshore Projects Don't Fail Offshore. They Fail on Paper work Most offshore project failures in Nigeria don't start in the field. They start during planning just weeks before a single pipe is laid or a wellhead is touched. From my experience in upstream project management and petroleum engineering, I've observed a recurring pattern. Projects move into execution carrying three silent killers: 1. Incomplete risk assessments, leading to HAZOP studies done in isolation, disconnected from the subsurface picture. 2. Unrealistic schedules, built on optimism, with no buffer for Nigeria's regulatory and logistics realities fators. 3. Poor integration between subsurface and surface teams, reservoir engineers and facilities teams working in parallel, not in partnership. By the time these gaps surface offshore, the damage is already compounding. What are the results? a)Cost overruns that erode the project's economic model before first oil. b)Delays that cascade across JV partner obligations and FPSO contracts. c) Non-Productive Time (NPT),and in deepwater, every idle hour costs what a week onshore would. What works instead, is define consistent: 1) Integrated project planning: subsurface, surface, and PM teams aligned on the same assumptions from Day 1 2) Cross-functional alignment early: HSE, procurement, engineering, and operations in the room during Front-End Loading, not during execution firefighting. 3) Strong project governance, Stage-Gate reviews with teeth, live risk registers, and PMO oversight that reports upward honestly 4) Digital oilfield integration with real-time data flowing into project dashboards so decisions are made on facts, not lag reports. 5) Realistic schedule baselines built in Primavera P6, stress-tested against. Nigeria-specific risks: community relations, logistics, regulatory approvals. Execution does not fail randomly. It fails predictably, and it announces itself during planning, to anyone willing to look. The companies managing Nigeria's deepwater assets include; ExxonMobil at Erha, TotalEnergies at Egina, Chevron at Agbami, Shell at Bonga, and all carry this planning discipline into their most complex projects. It is not a luxury. It is the only thing standing between a profitable FID and a cost overrun that rewrites the entire economic case. What has been your biggest challenge in offshore project execution, and where did the failure actually begin? Please,share your experience on the comment session. #OffshorePetroleum #ProjectManagement #Deepwater #OilAndGas #Energy #ProjectGovernance #UpstreamEnergy #DigitalOilfield #NPT #RiskManagement #PetroleumEngineering #FrontEndLoading #NigerDelta #EnergyTransition #SPE2026 #ExxonMobil #Shell #TotalEnergies #ChevronCorporation #ENI #SaharaGroup #BPplc #ConocoPhillips #Equinor #CNOOC #Repsol #Petrobras #Schlumberger #Halliburton #BakerHughes