Frank,
Have you heard anything about the recent reorganization at LANL? An entire directorate was dismantled. The Associate Director from ADISS was sent off to aid in other areas and isn't being replaced. The various organizations from ADISS are being farmed out to several other directorates. Rumor has it (sorry, can't confirm this) that some of these organizations will be disbanded also. People will just drift off into the horizon. Doubt any will be laid off at this point, but down the road who knows?
Hadn't seen anything about this posted and was wondering if you had heard about it?
Thanks,
Anonymous
Hmmm, ADISS is Infrastructure and Site Services. Why would it be dis-banded just as the KSL folks are being brought in-house? What's going on here? Is a sneaky re-org being planned in some manner that will aid in bringing in more Bechtel management?
ReplyDeleteThis is news to me, but I would not be surprised to see some major shuffling and depature of "key personnel" after June 1.
ReplyDeleteEveryone talks like KSL is coming in-house next week. As far as I know, it's not until their contract expires in December.
ReplyDeleteThe rumors keep flying about Mikey announcing he's leaving by this summer.
ReplyDeleteDoes anyone have information to support this talk? Is his house in Santa Fe up for sell? Are certain staffing actions occurring around him that indicate he's preparing to hand off power? Inquiring minds want to know.
Doris Heim is also supposedly packing her cardboard suitcase and bailing back to Kentucky. Oh how will the business directorate survive? Oh wait, she never accomplished a thing in 2 years!
ReplyDeleteWell, there is an all managers meeting on June 9. Maybe Mike will discuss organizational changes then.
ReplyDeleteJust kidding! The agenda is filled with the usual rot about ES&H metrics and more new policies we have to scramble to comply with.
Wait till you see what's going to happen in the security world......stay tuned!!!
ReplyDelete4:29 PM, you assume that Mike won't cancel yet again!
ReplyDeleteWait till you see what's going to happen in the security world......stay tuned!!! (7:54 PM)
ReplyDeleteOK, I'll bite. What's going to happen?
It's already been announced that all unclassified PCs at LANL are going to require accrediting in the same bureaucratic paperwork fashion as classified PCs, else you can't use them come Sept 1st. Also, any changes to the PC, such as OS upgrades or any changes to the virus software, will cause the whole frigg'in accrediting process to become invalid and require it to be redone.
This crazy policy supposedly starts on Sept 1st and will end up being a impediment to further productive PC usage at LANL, not that anyone at NNSA or LANS seems to care.
What else is new? Piss-tests taken fresh each morning? Strip searches on entry? I'm sure they'll come up with something to further beat down the morale at LANL so people will take the hint and leave.
Brett Knapp (ADWE) continues to cut his weapon engineers loose from W and WT-Divisions and force people out of their jobs. He cut Brian Aubert loose as a GL because he's intelligent and has vision. Most of the people are being forced on Wallace's organization to assist at TA-55 to ensure the 85% incentive loss in corrected. It's all about incentives. Knapp has almost completely shutdown S-Site. Rumour is that Knapp (California surfer) is gone in 2 months. His wife never came to NM and he runs back home to his mommy in CA every weekend. Knapp has destroyed S-Site and Weapon Engineering at LANL.
ReplyDeleteI hope that when Doris leaves she takes her crew with her. After Kevin Chalmers of procurement got reamed by Anastasio, guess what Chalmers solution was? He recently reassigned all his work to his next level manager to run procurement. Typical of him - that's how he insulates himself from blame. Boy, Bechtel sure teaches its managers to hide their incompetencies, which only lasts for about, hmmm, about a month or so. We knew what he was all about when he mocked us for our level of education, not for lack of degrees, but he mocked us for having advanced degrees. Go figure. No wonder procurement is the laughing stock of the Lab community.
ReplyDeleteIts true; ADISS is disbanded. McQuinn pulled a palace coup.
ReplyDeleteDoris Heim is a disaster. What the hell has HR been doing in the last 2 years? The moronic "reclassification" is still not rolled out (but is supposed to be next week for SSMs). Procurement as well as Travel systems are ridiculously not "user friendly."
ReplyDeleteAnd they haven't even started on the TSM reclass. The reclass system and business systems are all "off the shelf" crap brought in from other places (Bechtel) as "fixes" for LANL systems that worked far better than these new ones.
I'm sure Bechtel already have some more BS-educated Bechtelites picked out to replace Doris and Brett if they choose to exit LANL. It will be interesting to hear what Mike has to say, if anything, at the June 9th All-Hands. Rumors I keep hearing indicate that this year's budget is having difficulties and corrective actions will soon be necessary. The total silence from LANS since the "SSP" All-Hands back in mid-January is perplexing.
ReplyDeleteTell us more about the budget for the remainder of this FY.
ReplyDeleteCome on, it falls under the Waste, Fraud, and Abuse headline. Are all at LANS really that stupid? What do all of those PhD's stand for?
ReplyDeleteDoes anyone really have any accurate information they can share? Departures, budgets, etc.? If you want us to print it, we need good information.
ReplyDeleteKnapp is a twit who has completely destroyed WT Division. Complementary barf bags should accompany every thing that man says or does.
ReplyDeleteFOD's will be under McQuinn, EOC will be going under security, and the rest will be going to a new directorate that will also hold PM. Kelly is leaving and the new directorate will be run by another Bechtelian. ADISS was disbanded as of 3:00 on Friday.
ReplyDelete5/30/08 11:07 PM
ReplyDeleteKeep that piece of crap in NM we sure as hell don't want him back in Ca and while you're at it keep Mikey there too.
3:41 pm: "EOC will be going under security." Has everyone forgotten the intense discussions and decisions that resulted in the EOC LEAVING security a few years ago? Jeez, do we always have to repeat the same mistakes over and over?? Back to the Future. Yeeha.
ReplyDeleteEOC back to Security? Time for another forest fire and lost hard drives. Tony Stanford, where are you?
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of reorganizations, it looks like T Div is preparing to be reorganized out of existence. The staff moral is at an all time low.
ReplyDeleteSecurity is getting bigger and stronger. It looks like they will make an AD out of the person who is in charge of the piss testing.
ReplyDelete"...staff moral[s]..." have always been low. Morale may be low now, too.
ReplyDelete"AD out of the person who is in charge of the piss testing"
ReplyDeleteToo bad the name "P Division" is already taken!
8:21 pm: "It looks like they will make an AD out of the person who is in charge of the piss testing."
ReplyDeleteThey already did, two years ago. ADSS (Security and Safeguards), formerly a Division under Scott Gibbs, is now a Directorate under Paul Sowa (ex-BWXT from Pantex). No increased responsibility or span of control (until now with the EOC back), but an AD rather than a DL. He has two DLs under him just for looks. Interestingly, he does not have cyber security (too technical).
The re-org being done in T Division is turning into a messy cluster-f*ck. Lots of unhappy employees being created by this management exercise in futility.
ReplyDeleteIs Bishop's Directorate prepared to see their best and brightest TSMs walk out? Apparently so. The emerging LANS attitude seems to be one of "Who needs 'em, anyway?"
"The re-org being done in T Division is turning into a messy cluster-f*ck. Lots of unhappy employees being created by this management exercise in futility.
ReplyDeleteIs Bishop's Directorate prepared to see their best and brightest TSMs walk out? Apparently so. The emerging LANS attitude seems to be one of "Who needs 'em, anyway?"
6/1/08 10:30 PM"
I think a lot of people stuck it out in T over the years. All I have heard over the last few months is how people are planning their exit strategies.
10:30 pm: "The emerging LANS attitude seems to be one of "Who needs 'em, anyway?"
ReplyDeleteWell, who didn't see this coming? Did all you chowder heads in T Division think the world would continue to pass you by without notice? Of course LANS doesn't need you, or want you. You represent the estimable legacy of Hans Bethe, John von Neumann, Carson Mark, and others. (Redondo is a pale successor, more manager than scientist.) Who needs that kind of scientific excellence in today's LANL?? Not the Bechtel cowboys of LANS. Nope, you can take your peer-reviewed citations and put them where the sun don't shine - LANS doesn't care. Find a cushy university seat somewhere if you can, even at a 50% pay cut - it's better than being on the street. The loss of the legendary T Division is probably the most real and lasting legacy of the privatization of the NNSA contractors. Welcome to mediocracy.
"The loss of the legendary T Division is probably the most real and lasting legacy of the privatization of the NNSA contractors. Welcome to mediocracy.
ReplyDelete6/1/08 11:28 PM"
What a sad way for it to end. Maybe Pinky should have a post, T Division: "The End of the Story"
So Bishop went to bed with LANS, helped write the LANS reponse to the bid on LANL money, and now presides over the demise of T Division. Redondo was a pitiful choice for DL, but it was obvious as soon as he was picked that it was because T Division was on the chopping block. It just was not obvious as to when.
ReplyDeleteDon't worry, LANS will retrain you to operate a lathe.
ReplyDeleteOr if you are so inclined, you can go where your talents are appreciated.
Frank, perhaps you should make a top post about what people know or have heard about the likes of Mike, Terry, Mary, Sue, Alan, etc. leaving (or finding family) now that their 2-year contracts are up...
ReplyDeleteExcerpts from T-Div Tony Rendondo's memo of last week are below. Note the interesting comments about towing the new corporate line and survivability. As usually, Terry is also part of the equation for this effort. From all appearances, it looks like the T Division that LANL once knew is quickly going away to be replaced by what, exactly, I'm not sure?
ReplyDeleteFrom: Antonio Redondo
To: T-all
Dear colleagues,
As part of the feedback process for the reorganization of T-Division I have asked, in separate meetings, the T-Division Laboratory Fellows and the Group Leaders to give me their input, in groups or separately, on the reorganization. I expect to have this input by 20 June.
I have already made a number of decisions about the process, as follows:
There will be a T-Division reorganization.
The reorganization will result in fewer groups than we currently have.
I have not decided on the final number of groups yet, nor on their nature.
I will consult with a number of people, but particularly with Alan Bishop and Terry Wallace, before the final decisions are made.
.....
We also are looking for improvements in management and administrative agility:
- We will need to fit much better in the more corporate atmosphere and modus operandi of the new Laboratory. This will be particularly important as the Laboratory Senior Managers are planning to implement new measures to reduce the overall cost of doing business at the Laboratory. This will bring new ways of doing business.
- We will have to reflect the fact that the Division and the Directorate have become the major units of survivability in the new Laboratory.
- We will need to optimize the manner in which we seek funding, internally and externally, among other things, by reducing competition and friction between individuals and groups.
I don't understand why all of the flailing of arms over a simple re-org in T, which was long overdue anyway. A zillion tiny groups is too expensive to keep around these days. It is simple. Are the technical staff in this sheltered division really this fragile?
ReplyDeleteI honestly don't understand why slightly altering the structure of T is taking so long. That is probably the source of some of the angst. Maybe T staff need such coddling. I just think they should move forward and be done already. All this amounts to is re-arranging deck chairs on one small ship. I don't see it as having a lasting or positive impact on the USS Los Alamos...just on the T Division Dingy.
As for staff leaving, many of the best staff that are more mobile and in higher demand in various technical areas in other orgs in TSC and elsewhere have left already. Where have you all been? Asleep? Some of the T folks are just a bit late to that party. Seems odd to me that a simple re-org like this is enough to push them over the edge...
6/2/08 7:12 PM hoped:
ReplyDelete"Frank, perhaps you should make a top post about what people know or have heard about the likes of Mike, Terry, Mary, Sue, Alan, etc. leaving (or finding family) now that their 2-year contracts are up..."
Come on folks, quit dreaming. They have no place to go. Livermore is quickly becoming a ghost town, and they that came from there are no longer welcome. No university would touch them. Neither would industry, with their track record. We are stuck with them.
6:18 pm: "I don't see it as having a lasting or positive impact on the USS Los Alamos...just on the T Division Dingy."
ReplyDeleteYour nautical analogy lost some of its charm when you used the word "dingy." That means "tired, dirty, or unkempt" as opposed to "dinghy," the small boat you intended.
Oops. My bad..I did indeed mean "dinghy." I should have looked it up.
ReplyDelete9:42 pm: "Oops. My bad..I did indeed mean "dinghy." I should have looked it up."
ReplyDeleteWow. No scathing response, no answering flame? You, sir, are an honorable man (or woman). A vanishing breed. Thank you.
He must not even work at LANL.
ReplyDeleteActually, I do work at LANL. For a very long time, and I still do.
ReplyDeleteIt was a blogger joke.
ReplyDelete"- We will need to optimize the manner in which we seek funding, internally and externally, among other things, by reducing competition and friction between individuals and groups."
ReplyDeleteBy reorganizing? Yeah, that'll make everyone get along better.
Back to ADISS disbanding - My rumor source matches 6/1/08 3:41 PM pretty closely.
ReplyDeleteAlso David McCumber (communications and gov't relations DL) is stepping down and going to work in Lab Legal.
"- We will need to optimize the manner in which we seek funding, internally and externally, among other things, by reducing competition and friction between individuals and groups."
ReplyDeleteReorganize to reduce friction? Isn't it the job of the DL and the GLs to reduce it? How could there possibly be friction in T Division?
7:15 am: "David McCumber (communications and gov't relations DL) is stepping down and going to work in Lab Legal."
ReplyDeleteMcCumber was brought in very young for his position, but is very bright and focused. He has the attitude, sound, and feel of a corporate apologist, but the nagging conscience of a real person. Good for him if he found a more satisfying job.
The Manager's Credo: When in doubt, re-org.
ReplyDeleteIt won't fix a damn thing, but it will make you look like a real manager. Your upper level bosses will be very impressed with your re-org efforts, so you'll end up getting a big bonus.
It works every time. Just be sure to move on to another management position before your organization falls apart due to the re-org effort. Leave it to someone else to clean up your re-org mess with... you guessed it, another re-org!