Congratulations to PHE XD World! For securing one technical presentation on the “Enterprise-Scale Implementation for Business Efficiency” session and nailing the 3rd place in the “People Choice” Map Gallery ESRI User Conference San Diego 2019!
It began when I was in college
I was really lucky that at my university, every student gets to have GIS training related to its applications in geology by highly skilled lecturers and seniors. Even though I was well informed about the theoretical knowledge, never did I think that it would be beneficial for wider application. It made me regret that, back in college, I undermined the importance of this subject.
It is the late of April 2016, a calm graduation day. Hundreds of us were sitting together, side by side, in rows of folding chairs on Gedung Prof. Soedharto. We all wore black nylon robes and were so excited to go through the ceremony process until it ended. We have officially graduated from Geological Engineering at Diponegoro University in Semarang, Indonesia. At that point, I realized that this was not the end, but rather the beginning of everything.
A special thanks to my lecturers, 2011 colleagues, seniors (IKA Geodipa), and juniors for the endless support you gave. I’m proud to be a part of Himpunan Mahasiswa Teknik Geologi “Magmadipa”, Universitas Diponegoro.
Several days after the graduation
When my graduation spirit was still alive, a friend of mine, Hasan, invited me to join INDOGEO SE, a social enterprise group led by Pak Herman Darman that works on project training opportunities for Southeast Asian fresh graduates in geoscience. Under the coordination of Hasan, our team was working on the re-digitizing of the geological map of Borneo using QG*S. At that moment, I felt the need to learn further about GIS. As a good thing, my team was supportive and patiently taught me step-by-step how to use QG*S well.
Three months later
I started to experience the most helpless moment I’ve ever felt in my life since graduation. Until one day, my junior texted me about an apprenticeship opportunity at PCINO. At first, I didn’t expect things to change. Then I replied that I was interested, and my junior introduced me to the user, one of the geoscientists, who then recommended that I go through the selection process.
I’m very grateful to them, and I also learned that it is essential to maintain a good relationship with those around you.
A few days later, I was called for an interview. At the beginning of the interview session, I met two users (who later became my first mentors after I graduated), and they asked me to introduce myself. Then they started to question my technical knowledge of my final year project, practical work, research, and the organization that I wrote about on my CV. They asked me for technical knowledge, such as, Which method is correct? Sand to sand correlation or coal to coal correlation? ” which was crucial basic knowledge, so I knew I had to answer it correctly. When I answered, I saw that they were smiling and looking satisfied, but I didn’t want to keep my hopes up. So, I tried to stay focused on the next question. “Can you operate the ArcG*S software?” They asked. And I honestly answered, “No, I can’t operate the ArcG*S software.” But, I can utilize QG*S, and I am willing to learn about ArcG*S software.
I deeply remember what my parents and seniors always said about sincerity. They told me that if someone asks us whether we can do something, we should just answer “yes” if we can, and “no, I will learn” if we cannot do it. This has been the key for me, to honor everybody and ourselves and stay true to the situation, which is a precious lesson to have. By doing this, they will see our sincerity that we are keen to learn rather than our attempt to hide something that we couldn’t do.
Several days after the interview, the phone rang when the sun beamed in through the window. It was coming from an unidentified number. But when I answered the phone call, I was thrilled because that was becoming the very beginning of my life experience of being an apprentice at PCINO. The HRD joyfully informed me that I succeeded in the interview session and offered me the opportunity to join the company soon.
I unexpectedly met my friend, who was also my thesis discussion partner, Ayip. We conducted our research on TEPI. It turned out that we became partners once again during this apprenticeship. He taught me a lot regarding GIS software workflow (thank you, Ayip!). At the beginning of the program, my mentors excitedly briefed us about the program. We both focused on the play-based exploration of the East Java and South Sumatra Basins. During my time as an apprentice, I got lots of insight from mentors and the team. The keys during that time were the importance of implementing PBE workflow in the exploration to be successful and stratigraphic along western to eastern Indonesia.
In addition to getting the chance to learn the business process at PCINO, my mentor also gave me several invaluable opportunities. I trusted two of them to present “Sedimentology Cycle and Mega Sequence Approach” for PND and as co-speakers when my junior invited him to SCLS AAPG Universitas Diponegoro. My mentor was always so helpful by giving me invaluable lessons that I learned by the day that I could not have had elsewhere.
Mbak Mel and Anya, thank you for the opportunity to introduce this beautiful dance. For sure, I couldn’t do the dance, and this was my very first time dancing on stage.
The growth opportunity is not limited to the two opportunities I mentioned above. But I would like to underline that every chance he always gave me helped me grow throughout the learning process. First, the trust gave greater ownership. Then, it made sense to me to be challenged to get out of my comfort zone. Furthermore, by leaving the comfort zone, we could grow, and by growing, we could move forward to step up our value. I remembered several discussion topics when we brought up the issue of the importance of a mentor’s trust with my colleagues. Several seniors, we met there also agreed with the statement that “in the first 5 years, what matters most to our career are mentorship and trust.”
Thank you, my special mentors, Pak Wayan and Pak Hendra. Going through the apprenticeship, your dedication, support, guidance, and encouragement really mean a lot, even up to this day. And a big wholehearted thanks to each of you. Mas Mbak Exploration PCINO. One of the greatest gifts I’ve experienced in the past 3 years has been the opportunity to be a part of this family (Mbak Tsan, Pak Mif, Pak Jamin, Mbak Mel, Mbak Indah, Mbak Poetri, Mbak Cae, Om Joni, Mas Adit, Pak Erik, Pak Kris, Mas Naval, Mas Bayu, Mas Korah, Pak Har, Mas Aswin, Mas Reza, Mbak Satya). Especially to Ayyip, Mbak Tsan, Mbak Mel, Mas Bayu, Anya, Juna, Roosa, Mbak Prilli, Dhana, Putri, Bella, Nanda, Galih, Adil, Ikhsan, Firma, Catur, thank you for the warmest friendship you gave during my apprenticeship period.
The unexpected story continues
Alhamdulillah, 3 months after my apprenticeship period at PCINO was over, I got the overwhelming opportunity to join Exploration PHE, where the incredible story continues.
Thank you,
- My best friends
- My seniors (Ka Ragil, Ka Avel, Mas Andar, Mbak Visit, Mbak Rani & Mas Didit, Mbak Tsan, Mbak Mahar, Mbak Dini, Mas Ito, IKA GEODIPA) for being the inspiration throughout my career as a geoscientist
- 2011 colleagues ❤ (A-Z I owe everything), Frisca, Ayu, Gita, Yan, Mbak Mahar’s team (Ka Azka, Mbak Vane, Argya, Dina, Elok, Mel, Hazred, Enrico, Mas Tri, Fariz, Mas Aziz), FGMI-JCM mates just before I met IAGI & HAGI who always making the ambiance better than before
- My lovely juniors: Too many to be mentioned, but you know who you are :)))
For your presence during my most challenging time.
As one of Pertamina’s subsidiaries, Pertamina Hulu Energi (PHE) operates more than 52 active oil and gas blocks. The operation covers both onshore and offshore activities, from the western-to eastern-most part of Indonesia. Since then, the company has a gigantic amount of fast-growing data. In order to achieve the company’s vision of being “a world-class company,” the business needs high business mobility and a fast, thorough decision process that can be reached through data digital transformation. We are pleased to present XD World….
For the first 2 months of my internship, I was lucky enough to get a task force with my mentor. From him, I learned everything I know about how powerful the XD World has been and its potential to create innovations in the future. He taught a lot of things; how to manage the data effectively, how to make several dashboards for management so that management or users could execute analysis to decision processes thoroughly faster than ever, and he gave me the following advice: “the most important thing for a geologist is data.” For me, the task force brought me thinking of how the opportunity that GIS brings throughout my career. I remembered what Steve Jobs said, “You can’t connect the dots looking forward, but you can only connect them looking backward.” The feeling of how I undermined GIS in college still brings joy to me, from INDOGEO SE to PCINO, and last, to PHE.
At the very beginning of the project, I remembered when we were searching for a short character yet eye-catching name. Finally, we found the XD World. X stands for eXplore and D stands for Digital. After much deliberation, we arrived at our jargon: “Infinity access in your hand.”We do hope XD world could give easy access for PHE users to get information related to the assets.
I also remember when GIS Corner was the platform inside XD World. It started just with the three of us (Mas Agus, Mas Edin, and I) and the x-cloud was created by the only wonder woman, Mbak Dyah. Then these two platforms merged to become the XD World, consisting of 11 people with a diverse background who individually have the eagerness to make the company better.
This most tremendous appreciation of all is just for them, XD World Team
At one point, besides having the XD World that enriches my GIS knowledge, I felt blessed to have another role model for my life; Mbak Dyah, Mas Agus (+ Mas Agus’s wife, Mbak Las), and Mas Eka (They have always been at the very front line when I felt I could not do this, but their support and presence always strengthened me. Also, especially to Mbak Dyah, thank you for always being there.
The project was my first exposure to another department, from which I could collaborate with a different background. Through XD World, I met well-known people like Pak Yudhi and Pak Acan, who are experts at making analytical dashboards that are both eye-catching and robust.
Uda Azhar: Uda always nails negotiation issues. Things will go smoother if Uda is involved.
Mas Siddiq and Mas Andika: I believe that these two geomatics will serve as the foundation for GIS development in Pertamina, in particular, and in Indonesia in general.
Mas Eka, Sita, and Pak Bowo: Without their persistence in making the XD World as powerful as it is now, giving their exploration insight, none of these would have happened.
XD World in Slides ❤
It has been almost a year since all the people involved in this project put their best effort into XD World. There were many times when the team stayed longer at the office. In addition, we worked from home or even took extra days on the weekend to fix the workflow that we made a mistake in during the week.
This XD World project has been a great success, and this would not be possible without the support of many people. I would like to say thank you to our management, exploration, and ICT DM. This XD world seemed impossible to execute without their permission. Especially Bapak Abdul Mutalib Masdar, with all due respect to his spirit and breakthrough ideas. Lots of advice that he gave us till the XD could have been the pride of PHE as it is today. One of his suggestions that I will always remember is the Klaus Schwab quote.
In the new world, it’s not the big fish that eats the small fish; it’s the fast fish that eats the slow fish
That was the first time I realized that speed had become a vital issue. As we know today, several big companies couldn’t survive because they couldn’t adapt to the era of 4.0, the era of big data disruption. On the contrary, a small company or start-up that just started their company years ago showed that they could survive and sustain their position by only making a fast decision through a digitalizing process that could adapt to the agility of the business.
And several management and seniors that are always there to support us: Bu Meida, Pak Ari, Pak Nawawi, Pak Sudarmono, Pak Amal, Pak Bambang, Pak Doni, Bu Lida, Pak Bowo, Pak Adnan, Pak Theo, Mbak Caca, Mbak Mega, Mbak Ul, Mas Edin, Ka Avel, Mas Bas, Mbak Yanda, Mas Darmi, Mas Fian, Mas Fikri, Mas Windi, Mas Rocky, Mas Risdi, Mas Bunci, Ryan, Mas Iyep, Mas Gugun, Mbak Indah, Mas Firman, Mbak Titin, Mbak Kinan, Mas Fanny, Mas Rochmad, Uda Aldo, Mas Bayu, Mbak Rahma. For all the immeasurable support and encouragement during my time at my internship.
Lesson from Basic SEAL Training
And going back several months ago, every night before bed, I always pushed myself to watch “10 Life Lessons from Basic SEAL Training from Mc Raven”. I considered that commencement speech one of the best videos I’ve ever watched. The video that will always be valuable as I move forward in life “…but it began when I left UT for Basic SEAL training in Coronado, California. Basic SEAL training is six months of long, torturous runs in the soft sand, midnight swims in the cold water off San Diego, obstacle courses, unending calisthenics, and days without sleep”.
10 Life Lessons from Basic SEAL Training
1. If you want to change the world, start off by making your bed.
“If you can’t do the little things right, you will never do the big things right.”
2. If you want to change the world, find someone to help you paddle.
“You can’t change the world alone—you will need some help— and to truly get from your starting point to your destination takes friends, colleagues, the goodwill of strangers and a strong coxswain to guide them.”
3. If you want to change the world, measure a person by the size of their heart, not the size of their flippers.
“SEAL training was a great equalizer. Nothing mattered but your will to succeed. Not your color, not your ethnic background, not your education and not your social status.”
4. If you want to change the world get over being a sugar cookie and keep moving forward.
“Sometimes no matter how well you prepare or how well you perform you still end up as a sugar cookie.”
“For failing the uniform inspection, the student [in Basic SEAL training] had to run, fully clothed into the surfzone and then, wet from head to toe, roll around on the beach until every part of your body was covered with sand. The effect was known as a ‘sugar cookie.’ You stayed in that uniform the rest of the day — cold, wet and sandy.”
“There were many a student who just couldn’t accept the fact that all their effort was in vain. . . Those students didn’t understand the purpose of the drill. You were never going to succeed. You were never going to have a perfect uniform.”
5. If you want to change the world, don’t be afraid of the circuses.
“Every day during training you were challenged with multiple physical events — long runs, long swims, obstacle courses, hours of calisthenics — something designed to test your mettle. Every event had standards — times you had to meet. If you failed to meet those standards your name was posted on a list, and at the end of the day those on the list were invited to a ‘circus.’ A circus was two hours of additional calisthenics designed to wear you down, to break your spirit, to force you to quit.”
“Life is filled with circuses. You will fail. You will likely fail often. It will be painful. It will be discouraging. At times it will test you to your very core.”
6. If you want to change the world sometimes you have to slide down the obstacle head first.
7. If you want to change the world, don’t back down from the sharks.
“There are a lot of sharks in the world. If you hope to complete the swim you will have to deal with them.”
8. If you want to change the world, you must be your very best in the darkest moment.
“At the darkest moment of the mission is the time when you must be calm, composed—when all your tactical skills, your physical power and all your inner strength must be brought to bear.”
9. If you want to change the world, start singing when you’re up to your neck in mud.
“If I have learned anything in my time traveling the world, it is the power of hope. The power of one person—Washington, Lincoln, King, Mandela and even a young girl from Pakistan, Malala—one person can change the world by giving people hope.”
10. If you want to change the world don’t ever, ever ring the bell.
“In SEAL training there is a bell. A brass bell that hangs in the center of the compound for all the students to see. All you have to do to quit—is ring the bell. Ring the bell and you no longer have to wake up at 5 o’clock. Ring the bell and you no longer have to do the freezing cold swims. Ring the bell and you no longer have to do the runs, the obstacle course, the PT—and you no longer have to endure the hardships of training. Just ring the bell. If you want to change the world don’t ever, ever ring the bell.”
Invaluable Opportunities
Alhamdulillah XD World got positive recognition through several exposures. For me, these were unforgettable experiences that forced me to work out of my comfort zone.
I love doing the presentation. I realized love is not enough to represent the team and PHE. But having great mentors and a team who always pushed me to be better day by day and cheered me up through my anxiety really made my paradigm shift. Because of it, I saw things differently. Because I saw differently, I felt differently, and I behaved differently.
The bright blessed days
After having waited for two hours, finally, the committee announced that the XD World had won first place in the ESRI Indonesia Oil and Gas Customer Experience! Alhamdulillah, I never imagined that the journey could be thus so far.
When the CEO congratulated us, he told me to get my visa ready. At that moment, nothing came to my mind; I only felt blessed to have had the opportunity to join this superb team.
I never expected what he said would come true and never imagined that this July, I could fly to San Diego and Coronado, recalling all the atmosphere when I watched Mc Raven’s commencement speech. MashaAllah.
Opening of ESRI UC 2019 w/ Delegates from Indonesia
On Tuesday, July 9, 2019, all of the team’s dedication to the project was coming to its awaited milestone and was presented for the first time to the international audience. For me, I felt honored to represent PHE, Pertamina, and Indonesia. This brought into focus that we, at that moment, are the messengers to show the world, Indonesia and Pertamina in particular, that they could adapt and run through the disruption of big data.
I never expected that the responsibility would be this immense at my age and in my early career.
Feeling proud to introduce Indonesia:
Geologically, Indonesia, located at the core of Sundaland, is part of Southeast Asia, as you can see from the white outline there.
Where the subduction of the Indian oceanic crust beneath the Eurasian continental crust formed the volcanic arc in western Indonesia. This makes Indonesia one of the most seismically active areas on the planet, with a long history of powerful eruptions and earthquakes.
On the other hand, the complexity of the tectonics in Indonesia also makes our country one of the most fertile countries in the world and creates a prolific petroleum area.
At the end of the session, what affected me most was that the overseas delegates said that all of the projects and presentations were impressive. Afterward, many of them congratulated other Indonesian delegates as well after the presentation of PHE XD World! Once, I heard, when all of the Indonesian representatives said, “Proud of being Indonesian and congratulates us as Pertamina,” this made my desire to bring this flag higher and stronger than before. For Indonesia and Pertamina, Mbak Dy, Mas Agus, Mas Eka, Pak Bowo, Mas Andika, Mas Siddiq, Uda Azhar & Pak Acan… This is for you!
PHE XD World Map Gallery
Besides securing one technical presentation on “Enterprise-Scale Implementation for Business Efficiency,” PHE XD World was awarded 3rd place in the “People’s Choice” Map Gallery. Alhamdulillah! Thank you very much to those of you who have voted and supported us in every way till we reached this point. You know who you are. Interestingly, we are about 14 hours late in the difference between San Diego, CA, and Indonesia, so when we tried to send the voting workflow through the chat, we were sorry to ruin your bedtime xixi. Your support really means a lot to Pertamina and Indonesia.
And we would like to say thank you to ESRI Indonesia. For your constant demonstrations of support to the XD World Team.
City tours in San Diego
Considered as the top 3 BBQ in the world (Pak TJ Said)
Mesmerizing Views of San Diego and Coronado Island
Closing of the Event at Balboa Park
When I look back and think of all the stepping stones that shaped my knowledge and are very important to my values and principles, I always think back to management, my mentors, and the XD World Team. I can never be thanked enough for this trust and opportunity.
His time is perfect in every matter
“Perhaps you hate a thing, and it is good for you, or perhaps you love a thing, and it is bad for you. And Allah knows while you do not know.”
Al Qur’an, 02: 216
I hope what I share in this post goes into the hearts that need to hear it. Remember that we can only connect the dots looking backward, so we trust that Allah’s timing is perfect in every matter! For me, challenges and risks should be taken in order to grow on every journey we go through.
– To Gia and Anya, thank you for your invaluable proofreading assistance, feedback, and encouragement during my time writing this article.
Senja - Kejora 
Shine bright Widi! Keep reaching to the stars ya!
Thank you for inspiring us, kak Widi!