I have had great success drilling around the world with multiple types of mud drilling in water well, exploration and construction. Not once did I think it was just a good day of drilling; the success came from understanding the basic components of drilling fluids. There is no such thing as good and bad days of drilling — just days we impact the downhole structures more. That understanding allowed me to build the right fluid for the project.
I don’t believe that you have to be a mud engineer to build a good drilling fluid. The first time I sat through a mud school, I was overwhelmed. The only thing I can remember from that first school was my father whispering, “Where the hell do we have room for a premix tank?” Ironically, two of his sons went on to become Baroid mud engineers. My younger brother, Chad Yordy, is the Baroid IDP lead for the Midwest and Northeast. He is an excellent mud engineer.