People you can Trust: Greg Hulks

In this series, we're giving you an insight into the people that make RockWave the trusted partner that keeps our clients coming back for more. They are the people you will work with on your seismic project, so it helps if you know something about them before you start. Break the ice, so to speak. Don't forget to collect your RockWaver bobble-head at the end.

1) What would you be doing if not in Geophysics and RockWave?

My degree in Human Geography is very wide-ranging so doesn't point you in any specific direction, whereas I guess some people in this industry have done very specific courses and it is logical why they are where they are. I quite liked Economic geography, so it was looking at the way retail and businesses use space and location as part of their planning. In fact, my first job, before & during university, was working in WH Smiths (stationary retailer in UK), so I had a head start in understanding that, but also the service side, which has come in handy at RockWave.

Yeah, I was lucky in that, because the role I had in this shop, I was basically just purely managing my own time. I didn't have to be on the till, so I was just purely able to just get stuff done however I wanted, as long as it got done. So, I think that was useful for working independently and taking control over a certain area, as we do here.

Sometimes we had grumpy people come in, but because it's such low stakes, you don't really get too many dramas from people out to buy books and stationery!

As for what I might be doing now though if not in geophysics, I truly have no idea. But, I guess, the biggest thing for me is just working with people, so I feel like as long as I could find a company or colleagues that are engaging then the work itself is secondary.

2) On how RockWave is set up and being 100% virtual

I would personally prefer to have an office. As in, yeah, in a perfect world, it would be great to all meet once or twice a week, but the fact is we don't, and I think there's plenty of other positives that come from it.

Like the flexible working is ideal for me. Our projects aren't always completely standard. There'll be times of the day that you need to do a bit more, sometimes less. Here we’re able to adapt our working week to the project.

So in an individual project base, that's much better. And we are much more collaborative, even though we're not in close proximity. Dare I even say… RockWave is “fast and flat”, which is something we have all cringed at when our bigger former employers have made such a claim. But, everyone here does have easy access to each other and because we’re exposed to more elements of the company than at larger organisations, we are able to be part of wider decision making.

3) When you’re working on seismic projects, what does “doing a good job” mean in practice?

Obviously the basic answer is fulfilling the three concept triangle, like having high quality within a certain amount of time. Costing is kind of an internal issue, so that's less relevant for this question. But so it's really just the quality and the timing, making sure that those two things are as good as possible.

And in doing that, I guess, personally, I think it's important to just always keep in mind the client’s actual objectives for any given project. Establish and agree at the beginning what these things are, but then keep them in mind throughout. And that's not to say to be too rigid and inflexible, but I think it's important to just keep in mind what aims of the project are, what they're looking for, how we can satisfy that. The ultimate goal is always to make sure that it's a suitable product.

Sometimes that could mean going off down rabbit holes and exploring extra things. Sometimes it's just getting it done. So yeah, we'd love to do the highest level of experimental processes on every project, but it doesn't always require that. Sometimes the turnaround is the most important thing for the client, so then we need to focus on that. We are a service provider after all.

I think really the honest answer is that my background massively helps in this aspect of service, like, trying to see the bigger picture on projects, which is probably why I’ve identified it.  I don't have the extensive technical background that other people do. So, I guess my passion is then leaning more to the service side of it rather than the technical. Another benefit of RockWave - the diversity of skills in our people, you don't want everyone to be the same!

4) What makes a great client to work with?

Without naming names…

It’s nice when a client has enough technical knowledge to show interest in our work. They might not know the exact ins and outs of the process we're doing, but they have just enough to be connected and can back up what we are saying for their colleagues, to also bring them on board with decisions. Even better when they can supplement it with their own knowledge as well, like if they come from a slightly different background.

5) Can you think of any standout examples of a time outside geophysics when you experienced exceptional service.

Nothing specific comes to mind, it is more just a vibe. I think it is easy to get used to good service and only really notice it when it is bad.

When I look back, it is not usually a specific action that stands out. It is more the way they made me feel afterwards. A good example is on holiday, or generally in tourism. Hotels, tours, that kind of thing. I cannot always remember exactly what someone did to be helpful. It is more that they made you feel like if you ever need anything, they are approachable.

It is not just a single action. It is more their attitude and the sense of potential for service rather than the service itself. That feeling that support is there if you need it.

I do not think this is unique to tourism. It is just where it is most obvious. Other service industries can absolutely do the same.

So, that's why it's important for us to find a balance. Like, we could go and stomping in saying that we make the best data and bombarding people with technical ability and skills, but it's also important to, you know, have that relationship with the client, make them feel comfortable that we're doing a good job and that if they ever need anything, they can contact us.

6) Desert Island Velocities: If you had a week of velocity picking on a desert island, what one audiobook or podcast and what one album/artist would you bring?

Well I guess it is quite appropriate (given the Desert Island thing) that my #1 favourite TV show is Survivor. Unfortunately -  and I don't know if it's something that needs to be publicly broken – but I’m something of a mega fan. I actually applied to be on the show once, despite being pretty horrified at the thought of being on TV.

So, ideally I’d just have some kind of extra long deep dive podcast on strategy reality TV. Something that's long so you don’t have to keep changing it. No music for me, despite being in a pub quiz team that consistently wins every Thursday, my music knowledge is poor. Also, the risk sometimes if working with background music is you can get distracted going down a rabbit hole choosing next songs, whereas if you can just click go on a nice on podcast, that's the ideal.

If no music then I’ll take food instead, if you don’t mind. I could eat pizza every single day, so I'm sure that'd be fine on a desert island. Wouldn't spoil too quickly.

Read Greg's RockWave profile here.