I recently published an article in which I explained that infringements of the Code of Conduct had been observed in all of the situations brought to my attention in 2022.
I appreciate the comments that I’ve received from some of you since its publication. They revolved in particular around this question: “Didn’t you forget to mention excellence among CERN’s values?”
It’s true that the word “excellence” wasn’t mentioned in the article, but I’d like to share a few thoughts about this with you.
First, let me underline that excellence is not described as a value in the Code of Conduct but rather as a goal to be achieved by upholding our values: “Furthering excellence at CERN through integrity, commitment, professionalism, creativity and diversity.”
The Oxford English Dictionary defines excellence as: “The state or fact of excelling; the possession chiefly of good qualities in an eminent or unusual degree; surpassing merit, skill, virtue, worth”, which is a good reflection of the goal to be achieved.
Excellence is an aspiration. We can put the value of integrity into practice but we can only strive for excellence.
The Code of Conduct explains how we – the CERN contributors – can live and work in accordance with the five CERN values. But it doesn’t say how we can achieve excellence. Excellence is therefore seen as a concept that needs no explanation.
An excellent (the right choice of adjective!) article in the journal Gestion de HEC Montréal asserts that excellence gives teams involved in a project a shared sense of meaning and purpose. It brings together the “what” – achieving results – with the “how” – the attitudes and behaviour that are prized in achieving those objectives.
Excellence therefore implies making overall progress towards a goal while setting out a way to achieve it.
The article is particularly relevant because it also emphasises that “excellence” fosters the involvement and collaboration of team members, as opposed to “performance”, which cultivates competition.
Most of my colleagues are proud of the slogan “Excellence first!”, because it propels our Laboratory towards an ideal. But watch out – this constant demand for excellence may discourage people if it’s interpreted as a level of operational performance that we must each individually attain.
Here are some tips that the article offers in order to develop our excellence in terms of interpersonal relations, collaboration and team management.
- Cultivate patience and humility rather than trying to get everyone to think the same way and do things our way.
- Be open-minded and curious rather than trying to be right, persuade others and keep control.
- Encourage people to take the initiative, take risks and make mistakes. Some mistakes should be seen as learning opportunities rather than as setbacks that lead to blame and hinder collaboration and teamwork.
- See the detours required by the circumstances and challenges as milestones on the road to success and shared achievement rather than as risks that spark the fear that things are not going as planned.
- Demonstrate vulnerability, which allows us to be authentic and rigorous, without being overly strict with ourselves and others. Vulnerability allows us to take action in the full awareness that everything is perfectly imperfect.
Let’s take excellence as it is: not a performance indicator but a path that guides us towards achieving our objectives while respecting others, ourselves, our strengths and our weaknesses – in short, our diversity.
On this very subject, I recommend you check out the online talk being organised by our colleagues in HR-LD, “excellenceism vs. perfectionism” on 2 June at 2.00 p.m.
The Laboratory is brimming with the potential for excellence – it’s up to us to unleash it! Upholding CERN’s values and Code of Conduct at every level – both individual and collective and in our procedures, management and communications – is a prerequisite for excellence.
Laure Esteveny
I would like to hear your reactions and suggestions – join the CERN Ombud Mattermost team at https://mattermost.web.cern.ch/cern-ombud/