Excellence is one of our five core values.
Excellence: A Practice, Not Perfection
At Fulcrum Genomics, Excellence is not about being perfect. It’s about choosing to do our best work—honestly, rigorously, and relentlessly—and to keep growing from there.
Excellence is a mindset and a practice. It’s not something you arrive at once and for all, but something you strive for, continually refining. It emerges not from the pursuit of flawlessness, but from a culture of openness, curiosity, and accountability.
It begins with a habit: stepping back and asking: Why am I doing this? How does this help the client? How does this advance science?
The Anatomy of Excellence
Excellence is a practice. It lives in how we plan, how we communicate, and how we execute. It’s about:
Being honest—about what we can do, what we are doing, and where we can improve
Questioning assumptions—ours and each other’s—with curiosity, not judgment
Surfacing issues early—before they grow into problems
Staying organized and intentional—so the work aligns with the goal, not just the task
When our work falls short of our standards, it usually traces back to one of these: something unsaid, unclear, or unchecked.
Driving Value for Clients
We often talk about excellent code, excellent analyses—but technical quality isn’t enough on its own. True excellence is measured by the value we deliver. Are we enabling the client to move forward? Are we solving the problem that actually matters?
That may mean doing something unexpected: working around a client’s deadline, responding to a stakeholder’s baffling request with trust, or adapting when the landscape shifts. Context matters. Excellence means understanding the constraints, not ignoring them—and still delivering high-impact results.
And often, our clients have been conditioned by prior experiences to ask for the minimum. Excellence involves teaching them to aim higher. We ask deeper questions, listen harder, and look for the unspoken need. We don’t just solve the problem as stated—we help uncover the right problem to solve.
Breadth Over Specialization
Excellence in bioinformatics is inherently interdisciplinary. It lives at the intersection of biology, software engineering, statistics, and more—and it requires more than technical know-how.
To be excellent in this space, you need:
Scientific curiosity
Engineering discipline
Mathematical insight
Clear communication
Time management
Good judgment
We’re not aiming to be the absolute best in any one dimension. Instead, we pursue consistent excellence across the board—like a decathlete who wins through being well rounded, not specialization. It’s this range, paired with clarity and rigor, that allows us to turn many strong parts into a truly exceptional whole.
Holding the Bar High
Sometimes we ask ourselves: Do we really need to hold the bar this high?
The honest answer: We wouldn’t know how to work any other way.
Excellence is our internal compass. Without it, how do we know where we’re going, and more importantly, when we’ve arrived? With it, things get clearer, simpler, more satisfying. Not because the work is easy—but because doing it just right feels right.
We don’t want to deliver something that’s just “acceptable.” We want to deliver work we’re proud of—work our team can grow from, and our clients can count on. Once you decide to do good work, aiming for excellence becomes the obvious next step. Why not be the best?
The Standard We Aspire To Be
We want Fulcrum Genomics to be the place people turn to when they want a project done right. Not just technically correct, but thoughtful, impactful, and well-crafted.
“If I want it done—and done right—I should take this project to Fulcrum.”
That’s the standard we set.
That’s the reputation we seek to earn.
That’s the kind of excellence we practice—every day.