A large scale program of managed change, consisting of a number of large projects in different areas, such as transportation, renewable energy and fuels, industrial processes would require that many current experts contribute their specific knowledge in a structured way so that key decisions can be made in different areas. Unfortunately, this may be perceived as if experts give away the information that currently constitute their basis for doing business, acquiring project funding, or other key business aspects.

At present many experts in different areas related to energy transformation argue that we have to increase change activities in different areas, but we are rarely offered the fundamental building blocks of a plan that can be implemented in a structured way. This may be because there is no customer who has demanded the development of such a plan. Instead, expert competence in each area seems mystical and unattainable for the non-expert. How could we possibly manage to change energy systems, given the complexity that is constantly emphasized by most experts?

Well, we cannot achieve large scale energy transformation as long as this “mysticism” is allowed to prevail. We need to simplify, and make our knowledge accessible to everyone who cares to ask for it.

This we need to do through a process of describing the need of additional energy, and the resources we need to create this. We also need to make an inventory of the resources that are at our disposal, and allocate resources wisely to different projects.

The current experts in different areas will not lose their influence. They will become responsible for the projects in the various expert areas that need to be started, and new knowledge about the issues facing us will be developed in the specific areas relevant to each project.

This is not magic, it is what most managers do on a daily basis as managers of their companies and organizations. Only in the energy area do we nurture the idea of “mystic” expert knowledge that cannot be structured and communicated in a simple and accessible way.

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