Mitchell Energy and the Shale Revolution

George Mitchell founded Mitchell Energy to prospect for gas in resource rich Texas.  The company was imbued with a counter-intuitive, “can-do” culture right from its start as a scrappy independent player among the more formidable majors, many of whom had a large presence in the region. However, unlike the established rivals who were primarily competing to prospect and produce oil reserves,  Mitchell focused on natural gas.  The natural gas business was not a hospitable environment especially in the 1970’s when Mitchell Energy was getting fully entrenched in the business.  George Mitchell brought a new perspective to the gas business by implementing a blue ocean approach.   Creating a culture of innovation that encouraged his crew to question received wisdom, fostering an environment helped his staff take well measured and well managed risks, he was able to oversee the advent of the shale gas revolution the United States.  The case offers several important lessons on implementing blue ocean thinking in practice that can be used across industry settings.