Jim Dubois is a retired oil and gas engineer and portfolio consultant. After roughly 45 years — 20 as an engineer and 25 strategy portfolio — in the industry, he recently put his hat up and has begun to adjust to retirement. Jim has such a wealth of knowledge in both oil and gas and in life — part of why he’s one of my most impact mentors. “If someone had to work 60 hours a week every week, then something was not right. Someone had not delegated properly or something similar.”
A few highlights from the episode are discussing the value in working backward to solve problems (everything from what to do with your life to strategy planning for 3 billion dollar companies), why success needs to include the “whole package”, and why models are just tools, not surefire answers.
Show Notes + Links
[00:00:00] Teaser clip
[00:00:25] Podcast Intro
[00:01:06] Jim’s background
[00:01:31] What f “strategy” and “portfolio” mean in oil and gas
[00:02:38] Why the strategy for spending $200 is the same as 200 billion
[00:04:38] F**k you money vs I’d rather not money
[00:08:26] Why people think they don’t have agency
[00:10:54] Addressing problems head on
[00:15:15] Matt’s conversation with Jim about starting Pod2
[00:20:21] Business and life success are tied together
[00:22:30] How to find your “why” behind your goals
[00:25:08] 2 questions to ask for clarity about what you should do (in life)
[00:27:32] John Howell
[00:29:59] Jim’s view of work-life balance
[00:37:32] Additional learnings from Jim’s dad
[00:37:59] Importance of tooting your own horn
[00:40:03] How people are misusing portfolio models
[00:46:02] Aligning model learnings to strategy and execution
[00:51:36] Thinking about emissions as another constraint
[00:57:32] What Jim wants to see change in oil and gas over the next 10 years
[00:59:52] How dealing with uncertainty has gotten worse
[01:03:16] C-suite misunderstandings of linear optimization
[01:06:49] Jim’s thoughts on Jaguars (the car, not the animal)
[01:08:21] Why Jim hates French wine
[01:08:59] Success has to be the whole package
[01:12:15] Retiring better than ever
Jim’s Email: jrjdubois@gmail.com
Jim’s LinkedIn:
World Enough & Time:
Matt’s Twitter:
Matt’s LinkedIn:
Pod2 website:
Integrated Upstream Planning (Matt’s book):