Spaghetti and meatballs -- that's how I describe the energy majors. I've worked for behemoths for my entire career and the one thing they all have in common is how complicated they are.
BIG firms are not as neatly put together as you might think. The push, ahem I mean the swift kick in the *** that globalization has given us has only put the largest corporates at risk. Sure, they all have cash, resources that small businesses would drool for, but the biggest risks they face today are scruitiny and defamity from the almighty shareholder.
And forget it...you don't even have to be a paying stakeholder to have your say. Just take your complaints to the internet! Everyone has a voice regardless of what the truth is!
For years I have found great pride in making sense of the spaghetti....weaving it together so it makes sense...has purpose and drives the best outcomes for its people, customers, and yes, the shareholder. Taking chaos and making order (or something that resembles it) is an art. It takes a high degree of patience, (of which I am learning to gain)...and the ability to think in a connected manner. It requires building alliances, aligning people and finding the most efficient way to an answer.
People often ask me why I work in oil and gas and in particular for European firms. I love the spaghetti these organizations have created. While spaghetti suggests messy...I might liken it to the most elegant carbohydrate meal on the planet...the culture is a microchasm of fascinating, bright, and extremely gifted people who are working for the common cause: solving the worlds energy challenge - more demand, increased costs, geopolitics of finding and bringing resources to market AND keeping people safe, operations reliable and communities moving forward.
Yep, spaghetti and meatballs sure is a mighty fine meal. And all the world's largest restaurants (energy companies) are hungry and awaiting your visit and application. Interested? Come hungry to the coolest party and marathon on the planet!