Reinventing the Wheel
In an era of transition, companies must change. People must change. McLaughlin was a rare breed of company: one that faced radical disruption in its industry and, instead of denying it, embraced it — ...
22 Juli 202124min
Hubris Defined
This is a cautionary tale about arrogance in the energy business. When a 1914 dictionary dropped coal from its definition of “fuel,” the Standard Oil Bulletin gloated that coal was an “also-ran.” But ...
6 Mars 20208min
The Investor Visit
A 1915 photograph of individuals visiting a drilling rig gets energy economist Peter Tertzakian wondering who they are and what brought them there. The result is this story of Graeme, a savvy investor...
6 Mars 202017min
The Great Aha
In 1914, Ed Tucker, a once-staunch stagecoach driver, sees the light and buys a Ford Model T, never to look back. This story shows how swift adoption of a revolutionary new innovation happens when the...
6 Mars 202014min
When Stoke Stokes
In 1947 England, George sends his daughter a postcard featuring smoke-belching factories. “It isn’t quite as bad as this,” he assured her. Why was such an image glorified? Who on earth would put it on...
5 Mars 202014min
Stairway to Hell
This story is about corporate failure in the extreme. A cautionary tale of a once-bustling coal mining hub turned ghost town, Stairway to Hell examines the perils of relying on hope as a strategy in t...
5 Mars 202022min
Nobody Tips a Scandiscope
On a chilly January morning in 1857, 7-year-old Henry Haworth contemplates the chimneys he must clean that day. As he meets his fate in one of them, energy economist Peter Tertzakian examines the hist...
5 Mars 202022min
