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(More customer reviews)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."
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As Technical Director, Rockwell worked alongside the legendary Admiral Rickover for the first 15 years, creating the nuclear navy, then the world's first commercial atomic power station. Rickover was both admired and hated as he forcibly reformed both bureaucracies and industries to harness the fearsome atom.
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