Re: Pursuit of Excellence

[OFFTOWY@AOL.COM]

William V. Lipton wrote:



>>One misunderstanding, here, is the belief that "excellence" is about spending

more money.  Although resources are important, it's as much about attitude and

attention to detail.



No business could be successful if its managers' goal is being "good enough."

If  I were evaluating a company for investment, and the annual report stated

that the company's profits are "good enough," and that there is no need to

improve or do anything to grow the company, I'd look elsewhere for investment

opportunities.<<



I am not sure anyone said excellence is about $$.  But I do think money is a part of it.  Anyone seen folks at an ALARA meeting bragging about saving 100 mrem for only $10,000?  Is that excellence or idiocy?  When I spoke about resources, I was referring to the totality of time, effort, $$, management attention, internal and external assessments, etc., that go into the program.



I do wonder if, as a support function, there is some point at which radiation protection, or safety, or payroll, or human resources, can be considered good enough.  Not that one relaxes, but maybe one says that is enough.  Has anyone here ever tried reverse ALARA, i.e., we can drop this (perhaps very traditional or ingrained) portion of the program at a cost of only 0.5 man-rem, but save $20,000?  Can it be done?





Lew LaGarde

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