Jon Hall runs his shop floor at Halliburton on a simple rule: a job is done when the documentation is done. The part can be built and the inspection passed, and none of it counts until the record is complete. I’ve spent a lot of time on job sites, and I wish more operations thought that way. So I poured a couple of Old Fashioneds and sat down with Jon, Technical Architecture Group Manager for Supply Chain Systems at Halliburton, for Episode 2 of Not So Old Fashioned. Here are a few highlights.
Digitizing the checklists crews already trust
Jon spent eight years as an Army combat medic and instructor before joining Halliburton 16 years ago, and you can hear the instructor in him. When his team moved Halliburton’s controlled checklists from paper to digital, they kept the structure experienced crews already knew by heart. The crew got a process they recognized, the company got cleaner, faster data, and that data now feeds dashboards that show what’s happening across the operation. For Jon, completing that record is the last step of the job itself. The best operations I see think exactly this way.
Fix the process before you blame the person
When something goes wrong, Jon looks at the process first. Operators usually follow the steps they’re given, so a broken step is usually behind the error. I think that’s a big reason his rollouts met so little resistance. He also tests his assumptions across 20 sites before calling a rollout done, which is slower up front and saves a lot of pain later. And on AI, he keeps it grounded: a lot of what gets sold as AI is automation with a new label, and the question that matters is which repetitive work it takes off a crew’s plate. I’m a big believer in AI, and I couldn’t agree more.
Keeping knowledge in the building
Halliburton, like most of the energy industry, has decades of experience heading toward retirement. Jon explained how good documentation captures what tenured employees know, and how mentorship passes along the judgment that goes with it. Every field operation I talk to is wrestling with this one, and Jon’s approach is worth hearing.
Watch or listen to the full episodee
About Jon: Jon Hall is the Technical Architecture Group Manager for Supply Chain Systems at Halliburton, where he has spent 16 years across training and development, supply chain, business analytics and digital forms. Before Halliburton, he served eight years in the US Army as a combat medic and instructor. Connect with Jon on LinkedIn.
Thanks to Jon for pulling up a chair. See you at the next pour.
Rob
