The power game

Brad Peterson explains how new behaviours create a new and effective performance culture.

P&E. What are the asset management challenges facing companies within the utilities sector today?
Brad Peterson. The biggest drivers of change are redeveloping our distribution grid, the public demand and legislation supporting green energy, and the inevitable inflation of the US dollar. Once we come out of the economic downturn, our generating capacity and grid performance will once again take centre stage. Grid failures will have the public agitating for network stability and flexibility. Carbon credit trading will change the face of energy consumption within the next 10 years. Some of our heaviest electricity consuming industries will move offshore as countries not participating in the accord will take up the price of conforming to carbon reduction. This in turn will take us to a point of reality; whether keeping our job base is more important than the concerns over nuclear safety and nuclear waste storage.

We will continue to see a move towards innovation in energy, spurred by the decline of the US dollar due to our excess spending and fiscal irresponsibility. It is likely that gasoline will be $10-20 per gallon and energy efficiency will become a serious matter for homes, business, industry and transportation as liquid fuels rise in price. Being prepared for changes in price, fuel, taxation and regulation will be the ultimate challenge. Energy leadership often foresees new trends, but turning the ship to face the new waves is one culture change too far.

How can SAMI help utilities face future dislocations?
SAMI is in the business of changing the performance culture of organizations. We bring a set of very specialized tools to create plans for the future, engage the workforce to design and implement the changes, and to measure the results, all within a two-year window. Our Ascend program encompasses a unique model, process and tools that embed the behavioural change necessary to guarantee consistent and sustainable success.  We understand what's necessary to bring the best possible results within an organization; the right practices, behaviours and managing system. Our methods work 100 percent of the time.

By utilizing our unique Ascend model, process and tool and our unmatched depth of experience, the result is consistent and sustainable success.

What makes SAMI's methods and models different from other firms?
SAMI has had a development pattern that's very different than other firms. I come from a background of hard sciences and behavioural psychology so our building blocks include a deep knowledge of what practices work on an everyday basis and how to capture human nature for changing the work culture. SAMI's methodology has been time tested and utilized in many industries, always achieving the results promised.

How do you see the area of asset management developing in the energy sector in the future?
The greatest challenge to power companies in the future will be change and flexibility, as well as a dramatically inflated dollar, great restrictions and costs associated with fossil fuels and CO₂ taxes and disruption in demand as energy costs drive all segments towards conservation. Massive investments in transmission infrastructure, likely without adequate regulatory guarantees of recovery and loss of base load due to green energy sources and required cycling will also create challenges.

The winners will be those companies that can adapt - changing direction and skills in years rather than decades. They will be the companies who understand that behaviours drive a culture. By empowering their workforce with methods to improve their work lives, they can adapt to their new culture faster than the competition. The winners will not only need to change, but to do so at a faster pace. Flexibility will be the new mantra.

Bradley Peterson is SAMI's founder. He keynotes conferences on asset management around the globe and is sought after as a speaker and advisor to companies looking to improve results. Peterson is a visionary whose combination of industry expertise and behavioural psychology enables clients to achieve a performance culture.