-Gus
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6:18 pm: "As far as management is concerned, employees are like Dixie Cups: useful when you need them, and trash when you don't. You are disposable."
As a former LANL manager, I can assure you that not all LANL managers feel, or act, that way. Many (perhaps most) are truly trying to do the best they can for their employees, in the face of idiotic mandates from 1) upper management; 2) program management, driven by upper management; 3) HR, again driven by the upper management they serve as "deployed generalists; and 4) DOE/NNSA, to whom they must report regularly, and who have no idea what they are doing. If you find it hard to trust your manager, try to better the relationship and get a communication going. You and he/she will both benefit.
As a former LANL manager, I can assure you that not all LANL managers feel, or act, that way. Many (perhaps most) are truly trying to do the best they can for their employees, in the face of idiotic mandates from 1) upper management; 2) program management, driven by upper management; 3) HR, again driven by the upper management they serve as "deployed generalists; and 4) DOE/NNSA, to whom they must report regularly, and who have no idea what they are doing. If you find it hard to trust your manager, try to better the relationship and get a communication going. You and he/she will both benefit.
25 comments:
"If you find it hard to trust your manager, try to better the relationship and get a communication going."
This reminds me of the prison movie where the warden, with a heavy southern accent, proclaims as he pummels a prisoner--"What we hyve hea is a failyre to caymmunikate." When dealing with sadists, communications is the least of your problems. The Lab is what it is, and the cancer killing it has roots emanating from UC still. Where did Anistasio come from? How about Marquez? Both are UC operatives, and they’re not alone. There are many more like them scattered throughout the Lab. Communications is the problem? No, I don't think so. By now, we know where the problem stems from. UC needs to be removed from this landscape once and for all if ever there's going to be any hope for improvement. UC is no longer the solution. It's the problem.
I don't think LANS top management really wants to hear from the grunts. Just look at the dreadful morale and the fact that LANS seems oblivious to it. That, in itself, speaks volumes.
Remember Mike's comment during the last Congressional hearings? "The morale at LANL? It's good." After hearing a statement like that, what more do you need to know about LANS top level management.
You can find management up to about the Division head level that still cares about their employees. Above that and you'll find that you're probably dealing with the "Dixie Cup" mentality.
10:01 pm: "UC is no longer the solution. It's the problem."
UC??? Where have you been? UC hasn't been anywhere near in charge for over a year! Bechtel is now running things at LANL. Marquez came from DOE/NNSA, certainly never was a "UC operative." Mikey was a UC employee for a long time before LANS, but so were you!
If you think all LANL managers are in the mold of, and support, what upper LANS management is doing, you are very, and sadly, wrong.
Pinky & Gussie, you should consider give this article from Sunday's Inside Bay Area a top billing...
www.insidebayarea.com
/trivalleyherald/
localnews/ci_7676402
** Labs changes cause anxiety **
By Betsy Mason, STAFF WRITER
Article Last Updated: 12/09/2007 02:39:04 AM PST
With a new corporate manager at the helm, Lawrence Livermore Laboratory has entered a period of uncertainty unlike any other in its 55-year history with the University of California, putting employees on edge and threatening to erode the labs technical prowess.
The federal government predicted that adding private industry to the management mix would result in more science for the same money.
Instead, higher costs led to 500 layoffs shortly after the new managements transition in October, confirming the worst suspicions of some and further roiling the labs once-comfortable culture.
Fear is the word Jim Wolford, a computer scientist at the lab for 27 years, used to summarize the mood.
I certainly havent experienced anything like this before, he said...
Have you ever known the federal government to change something and actually make it cheaper? What a joke.
Bechtel bid because it saw the opportunity to make tons of money from LANLs demise. Wonder how much they can milk before anyone at DOE notices.
On the original topic: As part of LANS management, you are part of the problem. If you had any ethics you would stand up and say 'Hell, No'.
Oh, I see, yeah, that would mean the end of the big paycheck. Sure, well we all have a price. And, I mean, LANS is going to downsize anyway because that's what DOE wants. So, I agree with you, why should you go down with the crew? That would be such a waste.
Stand up? Speak up? at LANL you've got to be kidding.
It's difficult for the GLs and DLs to communicate to the employees as they are also being kept in the dark.
Anonymous 12/9/07 11:58 PM writes:
"As part of LANS management, you are part of the problem. If you had any ethics you would stand up and say 'Hell, No'."
Sure, do that. And then they fire your ass. After that, what opportunity do you have to effect change at LANL?
10:41 PM "You can find management up to about the Division head level that still cares about their employees."
My Division Leader Sarrao only cares about MaRIE and his rise up the corporate ladder. He ignores the problems that exist. Example: earlier this year he asked the MPA employees to fill out a questionnaire about all the barriers to getting work done since LANS took over. He promised that if people took the time to provide feedback that he would would address and fix the problems. What did he do? Well, that would be nothing. I would say that communication from the employees is NOT the problem.
11:58 here.
6:06. You're right. What if some of those under you loose their jobs. Well, I mean, nothing you can do about it - not like it's your fault.
Why, if you took a stand, they would fire you first! I agree, your choice to kowtow is the only choice under the circumstances, and, wow, you'll be around to change LANL. It makes perfect sense when you explain it, really, it does.
One can take a stand, and document it, and be acknowledged by up to division management that the stand is correct, but no change will occur if concurrence above division level is required. In a good division, there is no retaliation. But, there is also no relief.
Those in the PRC and FSU and NNSA/DOE who monitor this blog should take note. It is in this area that the USA is still somewhat ahead. But, for how long?
"Marquez came from DOE/NNSA, certainly never was a "UC operative." --12/9/07 10:43 PM
Marquez was in UC's back pocket long before he was force to leave DOE for his sexual exploits while on the clock. You're probably about the only one at the Lab that doesn't know this apparently. He in fact has publicly proclaimed he was the person who ultimately signed off on UC getting the LANL contract extension each five year cycle. In other words, he was a central player in the farce of a process that kept UC entreched at LANL for decades with zero accountability. So is it any surprise that UC embraced Marquez so readily when his reign at the DOE came to a screeching (picture women screaming) halt? You're the clueless one here, bud. Wake up!
"It's difficult for the GLs and DLs to communicate to the employees as they are also being kept in the dark." - 6:01 AM
It is my experience that DLs and GLs are some of the worst people to go to if you are trying to find out what is going on at LANL. They can be nice people, but they seem to have little or no info about what's really taking place. I find this very frightening!
Anonymous 12/10/07 11:52 AM writes:
"It is my experience that DLs and GLs are some of the worst people to go to if you are trying to find out what is going on at LANL. They can be nice people, but they seem to have little or no info about what's really taking place. I find this very frightening!"
How true!
Regarding Sarrao. He is very good both as manager and scientist. For science, check his brilliant publication record on SciSearch. Top 2% of US science. On management side, he is a trustworthy and listening leader who cares. Show me another manager like Sarrao in this lab... We do not have enough Sarraos here.
MARIE is a concept that has very little chance of success, but if it works, it will allow us to do some outstanding science a decade from now. Sarrao took a risk of figthing for it, and he should be recognized for this effort.
11:52 am: "It is my experience that DLs and GLs are some of the worst people to go to if you are trying to find out what is going on at LANL. They can be nice people, but they seem to have little or no info about what's really taking place."
I don't understand this comment. Do you mean that DLs and GLs know that something is "really" taking place, but just not what it is, or do you mean that YOU know (or think you know) what is "really" taking place, but that your GLs and DLs can't confirm it? Or, some other paranoid permutation of the above? What is it you are accusing GLs and DLs of - cluelessness, being left out of the loop, or just being less well informed than you are?? Why would you think someting is "really" going on if your GLs and DLs don't know about it? Where do you get your information (besides from this blog)?
9:24 PM - nice words, you must be a toadie who is happy he is distracted. I used to believe as you do. Unfortunately, I have seen many-a-Sarrao in my time at LANL. Sarrao is a classic ladder climber and only associates with those that can get him recognition. MaRIE is a facility in search of a mission. Nothing more, nothing less. Another "concept" that is meant to keep people from seeing how Anastasio and company are destroying LANL bit by bit. In the meantime, his Division has no leadership. He claimed he would return Jan 1, let's see if he keeps his word. The other promises he has made certainly have not been kept. Just the facts. (remember the barrier questionnaire ...)
12/10/07 9:24 PM, perhaps what the poster meant was that s/he, like me, has seen or heard her/his group leader exclaim, "This is the first I'm hearing this, too!" when Anastasio rolls out another announcement such as the RIF announcement in September.
< johnmadden >
The GLs and DLs are not in the same realm of management that had been implied (and practiced in some groups/divisions) in the past. With the added layers of management, GLs are now comparable to TLs of the past who are the upper echelon of the workers in the trench. DLs are now comparable to the GLs of the past who used to be the interface between upper management and the trenches.< /johnmadden >
Decoder Ring:
DL = Division Leader
GL = Group Leader
TL = Team Leader
To 9:24PM, my Deputy GL and GL pointedly say, "We're not being told anything," and that they are in pure reactionary mode to any upper management announcements, receiving no warnings. Latest example: NNSA approved the layoff plan on Nov 21, yet the lab did not announce until Nov 28, and our GLs were the last to know on the 28th, even after we had just heard it in a meeting with a DL.
In the rumor department, we hear that our DL and even our AD indeed have tried writing memos to us that attempt to explain the existing thoughts and draft plans, but that the PAD rejects their requests to transmit. Any transparency in the decision process is gone.
" we hear that our DL and even our AD indeed have tried writing memos to us that attempt to explain the existing thoughts and draft plans, but that the PAD rejects their requests to transmit. Any transparency in the decision process is gone." - 9:19 AM
And this is how LANS fulfills the DOE Plan 3161 requirement that all workers be fully informed? What a sham!
I agree, 10:49, that in the meantime MPA Division has no leadership. I still think Sarrao is a good guy, and we should not hate all managers because they are managers. I support what I wrote before. But it is true that Sarrao's extended departure from MPA in a difficult time of RIF and ongoing discussion on the future shape of LDRD was not a very good decision. LDRD, at least the DR part of it, may soon end up as fully management-driven enterprise, and we all know how this would benefit basic research (and in a long run, MPA).
Sarrao suffers from the same malady as many highly-respected and competent, but younger and forward-looking LANL managers. Whoever commands his time demands his time. He has a choice whether to comply with upper management demands or lose his chance for advancement in his career. What would you do? I agree he is a good guy and I regret and feel sympathy for the choices he is having to make. I'm sure he doesn't like it either.
12/10 10:49 pm: "nice words, you must be a toadie who is happy he is distracted. I used to believe as you do."
So being distracted (as in concentrating on doing the job you are being paid for) makes you a "toady"?
Too bad for you - you have lost sight on your career and are only focused on your victimhood. I'm sure your family appreciates it. If you can no longer stand to work at LANL, why not just leave (or perhaps you have been "undistracted" long enough that you no longer perform any meaningful work that might get you hired elsewhere)?
Sarrao is a good guy. He is also one of the few managers that actually fight for science versus sticking his head in the sand for a bonus or abusing his power to benefit his own research initiatives. LANL is lucky to have him and it is unfortunate that other managers don't follow his lead. He was saavy to pick Watkins as a deputy and put Lacerda in as his acting. Both are excellent as well. Both care about MPA. Do I think MaRIE will go anywhere? Probably not based upon past performances of similar efforts at the Lab, but at least Sarrao is trying to help science (versus Wallace, for example). Any by the way, if you need to talk to Sarrao, he still makes time, unlike others who are "too important" to respond.
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