The Rickover Effect: How One Man Made a Difference [Hardcover]

Theodore Rockwell (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1992

A candid and incisive portrait of Admiral Hyman Rickover which takes the reader behind the "zirconium curtain" that protected Rickover's nuclear program from outside interference to observe momentous and highly charged personal interactions that made Rickover both hated and admired.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Rockwell, Rickover's former technical director, has written a notable, anecdote-rich biography of the controversial "father of the nuclear navy." In 1951 Hyman G. Rickover (1900-1986), then an obscure captain in the navy's Bureau of Ships, set himself the task of creating an atomic submarine. Four-and-a-half years later, USS Nautilus, the world's first nuclear sub, joined the fleet. In lay language, Rockwell explains how he accomplished this amazing feat. For one thing, Rickover gave new meaning to the concept of industrial quality control. Rockwell also makes clear why his former boss was widely hated and feared, and provides examples of his unique ability to infuriate as well as inspire. Most prominently, Rockwell demonstrates Rickover's genius for getting things done. Finally, he relates the strange story of Rickover's enforced retirement in 1982 at the instigation of Navy Secretary John Lehman, who accused him of accepting favors from contractors. If this fine biography has a flaw, it is the author's failure to explain adequately why Lehman was so implacably hostile to the man who immeasurably strengthened the United States Navy. Illustrations.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About the Author

Author Theodore Rockwell is a nuclear engineer, with nearly sixty years experience in nuclear power. He worked directly for Admiral Rickover for 15 years as the program was just getting under way. He was Rickover?s Technical Director for the last ten of those years, and kept in touch with the Admiral until his death in 1986. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 440 pages
• Publisher: Naval Inst Pr; First Printing, Stated edition (October 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1557507023
• ISBN-13: 978-1557507020
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.3 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,435,224 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

He's written many technical papers and popular articles, including "Frontier Life Among the Atom Splitters" (SatEvePost, Dec 1, 1945), "Bred for Fury," (first color stroboflash pictures of fighting cocks in action; (True, July 1946), "Heresy, Excommunication and Other Weeds in the Garden of Science" (New Realities, Dec 1981), and "Vice Versa," three one-act plays professionally produced as a staged reading at Washington's Source Theater. He's a Life Member of the Philosophical Society of Washington (founded by Joseph Henry in 1875), and for 12 years was the official representative of the Parapsychological Association to the American Assn for the Advancement of Science.

He is an honorary member of the Shanghai Qigong Research Center, and is listed in various references such as "World Who's Who in Science from Antiquity to Present," and "Who's Who in Theology and Science." His writings have been translated into Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Russian, Spanish and German.

He's the first Sigma Xi Distinguished Lecturer to be sponsored by the National Academy of Engineering, and was Invited Distinguished Lecturer at the World Nuclear University Summer Sessions in Stockholm (2006) and Cheongju, Korea (2007).

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Creating a Paradigm Shift Toward Quality Management, July 20, 2003

By 

Patrick W. O'Hara "taparaho" (Salt Point, NY United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Rickover Effect: How One Man Made A Difference (Paperback)

Many biographies have been written about Hyman Rickover, the father of the Nuclear Navy, which focus on his dictatorial idiosyncrasies and leave the reader wondering how anyone could have ever worked for him. In "The Rickover Effect: How One Man Made A Difference" author Ted Rockwell discusses how Rickover's leadership style created a paradigm shift among all of the organizations he came in contact with focusing away from the status quo and toward operational excellence and high-reliability. Rockwell, who worked for Rickover from 1949 to 1964 and served as the Technical Director of the U.S. Naval Reactors Program (NR) between 1954 and 1964 is certainly in one of the best positions to discuss his perceptions of Rickover's personality, work ethic, and style.

One of the quotes from the book that impressed me very much was that Rickover questioned how people who admitted they could never have accomplished what he had done -- building the first atomic submarine from abstract concept to reality in record time - could question his leadership and management style. Critics generally focus on Rickover's demanding style as ruthless and insensitive, when in reality he was building a committed organization and shaking out those that were not as dedicated as he was. It is quite obvious that Rickover would never had asked anyone to do anything he was not willing to do.

Rockwell's story encompasses his recruitment out of the post Manhattan Project at Oak Ridge until Rickover's death. While Rockwell left the Naval Reactors program 1964, he continues to write about how Rickover's influence shaped his management and technological paradigm and allowed he and two of his co-workers at NR to open an engineering firm delivering outside of the Navy the same operational excellence and high-reliability systems they had developed in NR. Rockwell also discusses how leaving Rickover's program changed their relationship.

Rockwell's book is a pleasant read, as his story is not overly technical and draws readers into an appreciation of how the Naval Reactors program influenced work systems and quality management. This book should be of interest not just to those interested in the life of Hyman Rickover and the Nuclear Navy, but persons studying leadership and culture management, technological advancement, and the career of Ted Rockwell - one of the unsung heroes of nuclear technology. I also encourage readers to check out Rockwell's new book, "Creating the New World: Stories and Images From the Dawn of the Atomic Age."

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Lessons extend beyond the Nuclear Navy, December 29, 2007

By 

Russell Herrell "ITSM Practitioner" (Virginia Beach, Virginia United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Rickover Effect: How One Man Made A Difference (Paperback)

The lessons, stories and themes within this book extend well beyond the nuclear navy and into many process oriented, high availability and quality sensitive disciplines - for me, that has included IT Service Management.

As a former nuclear submarine officer I both suffered under and learned from the practices set in place by this single individual. I later pulled from those methods to fill the voids largely missing in IT service operations - most notably: persistent quality management, continuous improvement philosophy and practices, process optimization, investing heavily in professional and team development, management by facts not beliefs, inherent risk controls, necessity for inspection and tailored metrics, standard procedures, focus on mission (business) performance and the overriding importance and constraints of an organization's culture. Interestingly the existing culture that Rickover set in motion does not view these qualities as unique or particularly rare as they have become common place and self sustaining. Every leader embarking on organizational transformation strategies can learn from the mistakes and successes of Rickover depicted within this book.

Explore for yourself and discover how many of the answers sought by today's IT leaders already exist only a couple hundred feet beneath the oceans.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Well written, illustrative biography about a dedicated man, January 9, 2007

By 

Adam Cohen (Chicago, IL USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Rickover Effect: How One Man Made A Difference (Paperback)

Rickover is a legend in the nuclear field, and this book fills in many of the details to illustrate that the legend was a person and was following a very logical progression in building the industry we enjoy (without fanfare!) today. The people engaged in any industry today, particularly those now in or thinking of entering the nuclear field, would do benefit by understanding the history described in this book. Very well done.