ABOUT

Dyslexic project manager. Professional absurdist.

Tom Kirkman is an independent project management professional with more than 25 years across energy, infrastructure, engineering and offshore operations — shaped by early farm work and two decades in Asia and on oil and gas facilities.

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On site: refinery upgrade

THE ROUTE HERE

From the farm to the refinery.

The farm taught him to work without complaining. Offshore taught preparation and responsibility. Asia taught plain language. Dyslexia taught that different ways of thinking are useful. Humour gave him another way to challenge assumptions.

Early years

The farm

A dairy and cash crop farm with his brothers and sisters. Complaining didn't accomplish anything — the work still needed to be done. So he learned to do it.

Career turn

Project management, by circumstance

Project management arrived later, almost by accident. Rather than treat it as outside his path, he ran with it — reading, learning its principles, understanding what it really required.

Offshore

Platforms leave no room for assumptions

When equipment fails offshore, a replacement isn't a short drive away. Think ahead, work with what you have — and personal safety cannot be delegated.

~20 years ago

ValveWatch, South China Sea

Oversaw the first ValveWatch installations outside the North Sea — six platforms over three years — learning the hardware, software, wiring and microwave comms along the way.

Two decades

Asia

Teams where English was a second language sharpened his belief in plain communication: define the acronyms, explain the terms, write instructions people can use.

For years

Oilpro moderator

Volunteer moderator on Oilpro, the oil & gas forum that worked almost like an encyclopedia for the industry and its geopolitics.

2011 →

Writing on LinkedIn

Energy literacy, oil & gas and project practice — and, from 2024, the absurd Weekend Science posts that became his most-read work.

Today

A first-of-its-kind refinery upgrade

Brought in to get it back on track. He went back to basics: close communication gaps, improve documentation and planning, and bring stakeholders together every week.

HOW HE WORKS

Operating principles.

Stop Doing Stupid Stuff

Time and attention are limited. Unnecessary activity is not progress.

Language is project control

Understand the terms → understand the system → see the bigger picture → decide better.

Talk. Write. Follow up.

Make sure people completely understand — then follow up to confirm the work is done right.

No blame game

When something goes wrong, look for the communication error behind it, not just the visible mistake.

Firm, not unpleasant

Competence earns respect. Support builds trust. Clear communication creates movement.

Judgment over dashboards

Excel, Word, and direct conversations. No matrix replaces a conversation that needs to happen.

THE ROUTE HERE

From the farm to the refinery.

Seeing the world differently

Dyslexia as an asset.

As a child he found he could read letters and words backwards, upside down, mirror image and in different directions — and assumed that was normal.

Before the internet, he worked through a shelf of English dictionaries — intermediate to collegiate — to gain real control over language and thought.

“Dyslexic Project Manager who Refuses to use AI for Projects.”— his LinkedIn headline

The glossaries

Two or three years each. Shared with anyone who'll use them.

Oil & gas hardware · electric utility transmission · project management.

Oil & gas hardwareElectric utility transmissionProject management

Request a glossary

THE LEGACY

He wants people to think for themselves — and laugh occasionally while doing it.

Logic, reason and critical thinking instead of emotion when the inevitable problems appear. Simple in principle. Difficult in practice.