From: Charlie McMillan
To: LANS Employees
SUBJECT: The Words ‘effectiveness’ and ‘excellence’ in Our Beliefs
As the Los Alamos Leadership Team and I have been sharing the Los Alamos Purpose Statement across the Laboratory, a question has come up regarding our choice of words in our belief: “Delivering mission success through operational effectiveness and scientific excellence.” Some have asked, why did we specifically choose to use both effectiveness and excellence? The answer is that the leadership team and I deliberately chose both words.
“Excellence” means to be the best of a kind, to be top-tier; it has a comparative/competitive connotation. Because our scientific and programmatic work is often competitive in nature, excellence is what we expect when we compare ourselves to what others are doing—whether it be at other labs or in the academic community. Excellence is what is required to win in the competitive environment we face. “Excellence” is relative to what others are doing and implies a condition that will certainly change with time.
“Effective,” on the other hand, means to produce the outcome that is necessary or needed. Our operational focus is on enabling our mission and protecting our people and the Laboratory. This requires that we produce specific, effective, and sustainable results. Often, the ways in which we do things here at Los Alamos are not even comparable to the processes at other labs, because the needs and expectations of each lab differ. Our operations must produce the results that we need independent of comparison or competition with others.
At the individual level, both excellence and effectiveness require that we always do our best—be Essential.
Thank you for reciting Webster's Dictionary on "excellence" and "effectiveness". Now walk the talk. Oh, and be essential too!
Sincerely, LANS Employees
There is nothing wrong with real for profit companies or striving for excellence. LANSLLNS for better or worse is
a "sole source", "best effort" enterprise that pretends they are running with the real for profit risk/reward big dogs.
True excellence is acknowledged by others not compensated for their opinions, that observe a sustained track record
of achievements and operational efficiency. Excellence does not materialize by writing it on a poster, including the
word in meeting talking points, or by waving a "we are excellent" flag. The real story is excellence has been eroding
at the labs for years. What will be the final wake up call?
I am not sure what McMillan thinks but most of the managers will tell you off record that they think this whole purpose thing is an absolute fully loaded piece of crap. There are certain divisions that are doing this roll out thing and you can tell the managers who are doing the presentations are just going through the motions because they have to. It is rather sad when your own underling managers are turning on you.
There are certain divisions that are doing this roll out thing and you can tell the managers who are doing the presentations are just going through the motions because they have to. It is rather sad when your own underling managers are turning on you.
September 5, 2015 at 9:33 AM
The LANS Managers (used car salesmen) will try to sell us (LANS employees) anything for the money they make. Even crap.
September 5, 2015 at 9:33 AM
The LANS Managers (used car salesmen) will try to sell us (LANS employees) anything for the money they make. Even crap.
Anonymous said...Poor McMillan? You mean rich...very very rich just like all the upper managers. For the kind of money they have made since privatization I bet most of you would willing and happily sell out the lab and go along with anything no matter how harmful,crazy, or dangerous it is.
It funny how the purpose statement talks about "our values", yet managers will go on and on about how the world is different now and that excellence and concepts such as right and wrong are only personal opinions, in the end everything is perception so stop complaining about how LANS runs things since this is how the world really works and since CEO's get paid a lot of money so should the LANS managers, why should it be any different? It is all just a justification for what they have done.
Is this news? The only way to succeed in management is to suckup, manage up, and never challenge the superiors. Why do you think the higher up you go the more out of touch these guys get? The whole thing is a big echo-chamber of garbage.
