How do you create a company that makes an investor say, "I've got to own that stock"? Start by creating a "culture of excellence." It takes single-minded determination, management focus and a lot of dedication from employees to create and maintain the kind of culture that produces superior operating and financial performance year after year.
At Anadarko, we've achieved this by setting the bar high, by making sure our employees know that they are our most valued assets, and by rewarding excellent performance not just financially, but through recognition from senior management. We've achieved it by creating the expectation that no matter what we do, we will be the best.
A culture of excellence has been a key factor in building Anadarko from a little gas producer in southwest Kansas to a global independent.
Good people are in great demand these days. So it's not enough to offer attractive salaries, nice offices and sophisticated technology to attract and retain the best and brightest.
Good people will join you and, more importantly, stay with you if you vest them with the freedom - no, the obligation - to make a real difference in your company's success.
How do you create this culture of excellence? By aggressively encouraging creativity, innovation and disciplined risk-taking. Employees shouldn't be afraid to drill a dry hole, as long as they've done their homework. Reward their successes, but don't punish their failures. From the very start, make sure your people have the right tools and technologies to work with, so they stand the best chance of succeeding.
This philosophy is behind Anadarko's success in places like Algeria, Alaska, the Bossier play in East Texas and its subsalt play in the Gulf of Mexico. We experimented with new technical ideas in these areas. We spent a lot of staff time, and we drilled a few dry holes along the way.
But as a result of our persistence, we now have the hottest onshore gas play in North America at Bossier, and we're finding major new gas reserves in offshore areas that were all but given up on by others. We have major new oil production with a strong growth profile in Alaska and Algeria.
We try different ideas, and some of them fail. But when something works well, we apply it in many different areas. These successes more than pay for the early failures.
Dedication to success means mediocrity cannot be tolerated. But just being a high performer isn't enough, either. We want people who are good people, who subscribe to the same ethical standards we've built our business on. We want people we can trust and can count on to do their smartest work every day, people who are good ambassadors for the company.
We want people who will work as a team and are willing to share their time, knowledge, resources and technical insights with colleagues halfway around the world.
A culture of excellence is also about the reputation you build outside your company. It's being proud to hang your company sign out on a lease because your well site is clean, your gate is painted and you treat the landowner fairly and courteously. It's about safeguarding your people, your neighbors and the environment, no matter what country you're in.
When you do that, good people beat a path to your door.
A culture of excellence takes buy-in up and down the line, from the supply clerk to the chief executive officer. Middle managers are particularly important. They're the ones who make sure people are assigned to roles in which they can succeed, who make sure high achievers get the recognition they deserve.
How can you spot a company with a culture of excellence? Look at its employees. If they're busy doing the work they love to do alongside people they trust and respect, and they're having fun doing it, you can bet that company is a winner.

Robert J. Allison Jr. is chairman and chief executive officer of Anadarko Petroleum Corp.

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