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Rating: 
Summary: Detailed, but biased account of a Navy maverick
Review: "The Rickover Effect" is a fascinating depiction of Admiral Hyman Rickover's efforts to build the nuclear Navy. This book is not intended to serve as a comprehensive chronicle of Rickover's career and private life, but as a chronicle of Rickover's accomplishments in bringing nuclear power to the Navy as viewed by a subordinate. Within these self-admitted limitations, the book succeeds, but Theodore Rockwell also attempts to turn Rickover's leadership style into some sort of management primer. Rockwell examines various anecdotes and discusses the effectiveness of Rickover's management acumen in dealing with both political and technical problems. This attempt to explain "The Rickover Effect" is rather clumsy and unnecessary. The reader can judge for him or herself the success of Rickover's abilities. Readers unfamiliar with Rickover's personality must keep in mind that this account is written by someone who obviously admired and respected Rickover a great deal. Rockwell's close association with Rickover has caused him to see the Admiral through biased eyes. Rockwell sees Rickover as firm but fair, which isn't entirely accurate. Although truly a visionary, Rickover was extremely difficult for most military personnel to get along with and prone to frightening fits of rage. Although he was often the target of attacks on his character, Rickover often treated his political enemies and detractors cruelly, and at times led his own vicious attacks. Rockwell appears sincere in his treatment of Rickover, but it is obvious he doesn't see the Admiral as an outsider would. With these limitations in mind, this is actually a very entertaining account of how the nuclear Navy started.
Rating:
Summary: Detailed, but biased account of a Navy maverick
Review: "The Rickover Effect" is a fascinating depiction of Admiral Hyman Rickover's efforts to build the nuclear Navy. This book is not intended to serve as a comprehensive chronicle of Rickover's career and private life, but as a chronicle of Rickover's accomplishments in bringing nuclear power to the Navy as viewed by a subordinate. Within these self-admitted limitations, the book succeeds, but Theodore Rockwell also attempts to turn Rickover's leadership style into some sort of management primer. Rockwell examines various anecdotes and discusses the effectiveness of Rickover's management acumen in dealing with both political and technical problems. This attempt to explain "The Rickover Effect" is rather clumsy and unnecessary. The reader can judge for him or herself the success of Rickover's abilities. Readers unfamiliar with Rickover's personality must keep in mind that this account is written by someone who obviously admired and respected Rickover a great deal. Rockwell's close association with Rickover has caused him to see the Admiral through biased eyes. Rockwell sees Rickover as firm but fair, which isn't entirely accurate. Although truly a visionary, Rickover was extremely difficult for most military personnel to get along with and prone to frightening fits of rage. Although he was often the target of attacks on his character, Rickover often treated his political enemies and detractors cruelly, and at times led his own vicious attacks. Rockwell appears sincere in his treatment of Rickover, but it is obvious he doesn't see the Admiral as an outsider would. With these limitations in mind, this is actually a very entertaining account of how the nuclear Navy started.
Rating: 
Summary: An excellent book about the man that pushed the USN to #1
Review: I thought the book was well written by a man that knew and worked with this very remarkable genius. Rickover probably contributed more than any other person to bringing the USN to the forefront as a world power. Ted Rockwell gave us a good view of how the man made this all possible and even brought out his humorous side. Most refreshing and entertaining.
Rating:
Summary: The Paradigm of Operational Excellence & High-Reliability
Review: 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."
Rating:
Summary: Biased, but readable and interesting
Review: The author holds Admiral Rickover in extremely high regard, so much so that the book reads more like advertising than non-fiction. I can't recall a single case in the book where Rickover is described as making a mistake, being unreasonable, or doing something dumb! People in a position to know tell me that Rickover was extremely difficult to work with, especially when challenged by a subordinate, but you'd never guess at such problems from Rockwell's book! Rickover is presented as stern and demanding, but always fair. Despite my nit-picking, this is still a worthwhile book for someone interested in the subject. Rickover definitely knew how to get things done, and deserves great credit for his work on making nuclear power reactors into a working concept. It is highly readable, and the Rickover quotes sprinkled through the pages are worth the purchase price. A lengthy, but more balanced account is in Norman Polmar's book, Rickover.
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