By Gus Morgan

Watching young people glide across The Parkdale Community Ice Rink takes John Butterwick back in time, to the days when he would play hockey with his three brothers.

“We had to get good grades,” he said, “or we wouldn’t be allowed to play hockey.”

While John still plays hockey, he finds himself coaching more now rather than chasing a puck. The outdoor ice rink in this inner-city neighborhood of Calgary, Alberta, is a testament to John’s devotion to helping others as well as his passion for hockey and inclusion.

“Hockey is a huge Canadian passion and the rink was falling apart, so we needed to build a new rink.”

For the past five years, John led the project to replace the ice rink. But it’s no ordinary rink. It’s Alberta’s first accessible outdoor rink, designed specifically to meet accessibility standards for sledge hockey.

“Outdoor hockey is for everyone, and we wanted to remove as many barriers to the sport as possible and create a space for everyone to enjoy.  Sledge hockey requires special accessibility to rinks and there are not many options,” John said. “So, we built our rink to be fully accessible. It’s been a great project, creating this awesome community space, and building relationships with community stakeholders, the sledge hockey community and so many other organizations that support inclusivity in sport.”

The ice rink project exemplifies John’s desire to bring about positive change.

“Find out where you can make a difference,” he said, “make a commitment and do the best you can.”

Prioritizing D&I

John’s limitless passion for helping others is a characteristic his ConocoPhillips colleagues know well. As a Surmont production superintendent, John pioneered a 2020 campaign to broaden the Production team’s awareness and understanding of diversity and inclusion (D&I).

For his efforts, ConocoPhillips recognized John with a 2021 SPIRIT of Performance Award.

“Getting nominated for the award by my team was a proud moment for me, but nothing in our business is delivered by one person. It's delivered by teams. My colleagues deserve the credit.”

To jump start the initiative, John formed a five-member D&I Focus Team to guide the 24-member Production team’s D&I vision.

“We needed to understand how to work better together and eliminate behaviors that were not inclusive. We focused on how we treat each other to build trust and improve our working relationships.”

Using feedback from a baseline survey, the D&I Focus Team developed monthly presentations on topics such as trust, recognition and communications styles. The campaign has taught the Production team to consider other points of view and prioritize ideas outside of the group’s broader consensus.

‘A foundation of trust and mutual respect’

Robyn Rabbitt, production analyst and D&I Focus Team member, said the Production team’s focus on D&I has changed the way they communicate with each other.

“The difference this has made to our relationships, the psychological safety in our team, and even conflict resolution — it’s incredible,” she said. “We’re now working off a foundation of trust and mutual respect, and it shows in the quality of work that we put out.”

Patrick Keough, production engineer and D&I Focus Team member, said while the campaign was a new experience for the Production team, they worked through what it was going to look like together.

“We’ve been able to identify important D&I topics for our team and have increased our awareness and understanding in a meaningful way,” he said.

John has also noticed a change in the team’s cohesiveness.

“It’s led to open, honest communication and respectful challenges,” he said. “Our business performance reflects our success.”

Under his guidance, John has successfully transformed the Production team into D&I ambassadors, creating change agents who continue to share their learnings within the business unit, driving further cultural change.

“Our team has proven that if you deliberately set aside time to focus on D&I,” he said, “it pays off exponentially.”

John likened his team’s emphasis on D&I to the company’s constant focus on safety.

“We talk about safety all the time. You have to have a continuous focus on it. It’s the same for diversity and inclusion.”