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Saturday, April 14, 2018
RFP language
What specific language or criteria is in the RFP to manage LANL, that is meant to address NNSA detected failures in LANS management?
12 comments:
Anonymous
said...
There is no language referring to LANS management failures in the current RFP. The RFP doesn't apply to LANS as LANS is the contractor who is getting fired. In fact, LANS is the ONLY contractor the RFP doesn't apply to. That should be obvious to everyone.
The RFP is online. It took me less than a minute to find it. Seriously. It's sad that you didn't put in even one minute of homework before you asked others to answer your question. You must be a millennial.
"The RFP is online. It took me less than a minute to find it. Seriously. It's sad that you didn't put in even one minute of homework before you asked others to answer your question"
What is sad is that you non-millennials think insulting others is acceptable. Must be the toxic masculinity of the non-millennials. Millennials are not the generation that embraced patriarchy, racism, win at all cost, and being privileged, owning guns, etc, but they are the first generation to vocally oppose this.
Did it ever occur to you the idea of cooperation? The poster thought that the blog represented a community of mindful and respectful people who are glad to help. I guess they are wrong.
There is no language referring to LANS management failures in the current RFP. The RFP doesn't apply to LANS as LANS is the contractor who is getting fired. In fact, LANS is the ONLY contractor the RFP doesn't apply to. That should be obvious to everyone.
The RFP is online. It took me less than a minute to find it. Seriously. It's sad that you didn't put in even one minute of homework before you asked others to answer your question. You must be a millennial.
April 15, 2018 at 5:03 AM -------------------------------------------------------
Above is what we call the douche comment. It is found frequently on blogs containing people who think they are better than others yet are social rejects.
Now to provide a real answer to the post... No additional language or features were added to the RFP or the selection criteria that, in my opinion, will end in the selection of a better performing contractor or create an incentive to the contractor's behavior toward a positive outcome for the mission.
Most government contracts shy away from these criteria and stipulations on fear of being challenged during the award cycle or be unenforceable during execution of the contract. It is a fallacy though because the few times I have seen them used, they worked fairly well as long as they were designed well.
The Original Poster may find an answer in section H-20 and H-17
"H-20 ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE CHANGE
The contractor shall improve the organizational culture by proactively balancing the conduct of operations in every aspect of executing the statement of work (e.g. integrating a research environment with a production environment and integrating construction and operations in a high hazard environment). This balance should allocate resources and leadership focus to ensure mission deliverables and desired outcomes are achieved in a timely manner with operations that are safe, secure and efficient. In addition, organizational culture change should promote an improved safety culture as described by the focus areas and attributes described in Department of Energy Guide 450.4-1C, Attachment 10. The Contractor shall include organizational culture improvement as part of its strategic planning activities."
"H-11 ACCOUNTABILITY
The Contractor is responsible for the quality of its products and services and for assessing its operations, programs, projects and business systems and identifying deficiencies and implementing needed improvements in accordance with the terms and conditions of this Contract, regardless of whether NNSA has evaluated the Contractor’s performance in any area of the Contract. The Contractor is encouraged to collaborate with its corporate parent (as applicable) to ensure corporate leadership, the parent’s systems, processes and independent assessments are used to assess the Contractor’s performance. The purpose of NNSA oversight is for assessing the Contractor’s performance in meeting its obligations under this Contract, in addition to measuring progress toward NNSA missions. The Contractor’s accountability described in this clause is not reduced by the fact that NNSA conducts oversight activities."
"The RFP doesn't apply to LANS as LANS is the contractor who is getting fired."
Easy. It is clear to all that the poster is simply asking what "lessons learned" have shaped the NNSA requirements for the next contractor. Is that so difficult to understand or appreciate? Only someone indifferent to the flurry of preventable accidents linked to LANS management, would push back at the posters questions with such animosity.
whatever happened to john tapias lawsuit for his termination by lans. the nm court website doesn’t have any updates. was the case quietly settled during the new contract negotiations
"Millennials are not the generation that embraced patriarchy, racism, win at all cost, and being privileged, owning guns, etc, but they are the first generation to vocally oppose this."
That's simply not correct. Each and every generation has had many individuals who were vocal opponents of your issues. In fact, previous generations have been successful in bringing about dramatic social change. Ever hear of Abolitionism? The Women's Suffrage Movement? Repeal of the Chinese Exclusion Act (1943)? Civil Rights act of 1964? The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990? The list goes on and on.
In the interest of furthering a collegial exchange of knowledge, ideas, and positions, it's important to be clear. Many will find your comment to be age bigoted, ignorant, self-aggrandizing, and even offensive.
There will certainly be social change in the future and the Millennial generation will have the opportunity to contribute **by standing on the shoulders of those who came before them**. However, Millennials haven't brought about any significant change yet and they will be less likely to if they are as ignorant of what came before them as you seem to be.
4:09 PM lists section H-11 as an example of lessons learned shaping the LANL M&O RFP but this is not a valid example. How do we know? Section H-11 is nothing more than a mild rewording of Section H-7 in the current LANS contract. It was already a requirement on LANS yet LANS still failed. Likewise, much of H-20 already existed in the LANS contract although H-20 adds the poorly-defined and poorly thought-out concept of balance.
These errors highlight just how foolish it was to ask random people to evaluate what shaped the RFP. If you really want to know, there is simply no substitute for interviewing people who worked on the RFP and actually know something about the history.
"If you really want to know, there is simply no substitute for interviewing people who worked on the RFP and actually know something about the history."
Sure, go ahead and try to flush out answers to those embarrassing LANS performance questions, then pick up your last LANS paycheck.
Nothing substantial was added. That is the truth. Nothing will change. This is a New Mexico culture issue and a US culture issue not a UC, Bechtel, or any new contractor issue. Pride, workmanship, and patriotism has severely eroded over the past two decades and nothing short of a serious conflict will bring it back. Mark my words. Nothing will change with a contract change.
Correct with the exception of the name on paychecks. The problem is NNSA's view of M&O contracting. A multi-partner LLC has no culture of its own. There's not even a single HR or policy approach flowing out of this type of LLC. Everything is done at the LANL level, as opposed to coming out of a corporate office. For example when LANL was run by UC, any policy out of UCOP was automatically applicable to the Lab - unless the Lab could show that it was not allowed by DOE directives or federal laws.
Out of 10,000 employees at LANL how many will actually be changed due to the contract? Maybe 1%.
If Google or Amazon won the contract, they would be able to change the culture either. Too many DOE and NNSA rules, orders, directives on how things are to be done and what is allowed.
12 comments:
There is no language referring to LANS management failures in the current RFP. The RFP doesn't apply to LANS as LANS is the contractor who is getting fired. In fact, LANS is the ONLY contractor the RFP doesn't apply to. That should be obvious to everyone.
The RFP is online. It took me less than a minute to find it. Seriously. It's sad that you didn't put in even one minute of homework before you asked others to answer your question. You must be a millennial.
"The RFP is online. It took me less than a minute to find it. Seriously. It's sad that you didn't put in even one minute of homework before you asked others to answer your question"
What is sad is that you non-millennials think insulting others is acceptable. Must be the toxic masculinity of the non-millennials.
Millennials are not the generation that embraced patriarchy, racism, win at all cost, and being privileged, owning guns, etc, but they are the first generation to vocally oppose this.
Did it ever occur to you the idea of cooperation? The poster thought that the blog represented a community of mindful and respectful people who are glad to help. I guess they are wrong.
There is no language referring to LANS management failures in the current RFP. The RFP doesn't apply to LANS as LANS is the contractor who is getting fired. In fact, LANS is the ONLY contractor the RFP doesn't apply to. That should be obvious to everyone.
The RFP is online. It took me less than a minute to find it. Seriously. It's sad that you didn't put in even one minute of homework before you asked others to answer your question. You must be a millennial.
April 15, 2018 at 5:03 AM
-------------------------------------------------------
Above is what we call the douche comment. It is found frequently on blogs containing people who think they are better than others yet are social rejects.
Now to provide a real answer to the post... No additional language or features were added to the RFP or the selection criteria that, in my opinion, will end in the selection of a better performing contractor or create an incentive to the contractor's behavior toward a positive outcome for the mission.
Most government contracts shy away from these criteria and stipulations on fear of being challenged during the award cycle or be unenforceable during execution of the contract. It is a fallacy though because the few times I have seen them used, they worked fairly well as long as they were designed well.
Here's the RPF website
https://www.energy.gov/nnsa/los-alamos-mo-contract-competition
The link to the actual RFP is
https://www.energy.gov/sites/prod/files/migrated/nnsa/2018/01/f46/de-sol-0011206_rfp_body_lanl.pdf
The Original Poster may find an answer in section H-20 and H-17
"H-20 ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE CHANGE
The contractor shall improve the organizational culture by proactively balancing the conduct of operations in every aspect of executing the statement of work (e.g. integrating a research environment with a production environment and integrating construction and operations in a high hazard environment). This balance should allocate resources and leadership focus to ensure mission deliverables and desired outcomes are achieved in a timely manner with operations that are safe, secure and efficient. In addition, organizational culture change should promote an improved safety culture as described by the focus areas and attributes described in Department of Energy Guide 450.4-1C, Attachment 10. The Contractor shall include organizational culture improvement as part of its strategic planning activities."
"H-11 ACCOUNTABILITY
The Contractor is responsible for the quality of its products and services and for assessing its operations, programs, projects and business systems and identifying deficiencies and implementing needed improvements in accordance with the terms and conditions of this Contract, regardless of whether NNSA has evaluated the Contractor’s performance in any area of the Contract. The Contractor is encouraged to collaborate with its corporate parent (as applicable) to ensure corporate leadership, the parent’s systems, processes and independent assessments are used to assess the Contractor’s performance. The purpose of NNSA oversight is for assessing the Contractor’s performance in meeting its obligations under this Contract, in addition to measuring progress toward NNSA missions. The Contractor’s accountability described in this clause is not reduced by the fact that NNSA conducts oversight activities."
"The RFP doesn't apply to LANS as LANS is the contractor who is getting fired."
Easy. It is clear to all that the poster is simply asking what "lessons learned" have shaped the NNSA requirements for the next contractor. Is that so difficult to understand or appreciate? Only someone indifferent to the flurry of preventable accidents linked to LANS management, would push back at the posters questions with such animosity.
whatever happened to john tapias lawsuit for his termination by lans. the nm court website doesn’t have any updates. was the case quietly settled during the new contract negotiations
"Millennials are not the generation that embraced patriarchy, racism, win at all cost, and being privileged, owning guns, etc, but they are the first generation to vocally oppose this."
That's simply not correct. Each and every generation has had many individuals who were vocal opponents of your issues. In fact, previous generations have been successful in bringing about dramatic social change. Ever hear of Abolitionism? The Women's Suffrage Movement? Repeal of the Chinese Exclusion Act (1943)? Civil Rights act of 1964? The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990? The list goes on and on.
In the interest of furthering a collegial exchange of knowledge, ideas, and positions, it's important to be clear. Many will find your comment to be age bigoted, ignorant, self-aggrandizing, and even offensive.
There will certainly be social change in the future and the Millennial generation will have the opportunity to contribute **by standing on the shoulders of those who came before them**. However, Millennials haven't brought about any significant change yet and they will be less likely to if they are as ignorant of what came before them as you seem to be.
4:09 PM lists section H-11 as an example of lessons learned shaping the LANL M&O RFP but this is not a valid example. How do we know? Section H-11 is nothing more than a mild rewording of Section H-7 in the current LANS contract. It was already a requirement on LANS yet LANS still failed. Likewise, much of H-20 already existed in the LANS contract although H-20 adds the poorly-defined and poorly thought-out concept of balance.
These errors highlight just how foolish it was to ask random people to evaluate what shaped the RFP. If you really want to know, there is simply no substitute for interviewing people who worked on the RFP and actually know something about the history.
"If you really want to know, there is simply no substitute for interviewing people who worked on the RFP and actually know something about the history."
Sure, go ahead and try to flush out answers to those embarrassing LANS performance questions, then pick up your last LANS paycheck.
Nothing substantial was added. That is the truth. Nothing will change. This is a New Mexico culture issue and a US culture issue not a UC, Bechtel, or any new contractor issue. Pride, workmanship, and patriotism has severely eroded over the past two decades and nothing short of a serious conflict will bring it back. Mark my words. Nothing will change with a contract change.
April 17, 2018 at 5:35 PM
"Nothing will change."
Correct with the exception of the name on paychecks. The problem is NNSA's view of M&O contracting. A multi-partner LLC has no culture of its own. There's not even a single HR or policy approach flowing out of this type of LLC. Everything is done at the LANL level, as opposed to coming out of a corporate office. For example when LANL was run by UC, any policy out of UCOP was automatically applicable to the Lab - unless the Lab could show that it was not allowed by DOE directives or federal laws.
Out of 10,000 employees at LANL how many will actually be changed due to the contract? Maybe 1%.
If Google or Amazon won the contract, they would be able to change the culture either. Too many DOE and NNSA rules, orders, directives on how things are to be done and what is allowed.
Pride, workmanship, and patriotism has severely eroded over the past two decades and nothing short of a serious conflict will bring it back.
April 17, 2018 at 5:35 PM
Absolutely correct, and it is on its way. Fasten your seatbelts, America. Extreme turbulence is ahead.
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