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Quotes from The Rickover Effect — Hyman G. Rickover

1900–1986 Poland

← All quotes by Hyman G. Rickover

20 quotes

It is a human inclination to hope things will work out, despite evidence or doubt to the contrary. A successful manager must resist this temptation.

The Rickover Effect (1992)

It is said that a wise man who stands firm is a statesman, and a foolish man who stands firm is a catastrophe.

The Rickover Effect (1992)

The Devil is in the details, but so is salvation.

The Rickover Effect (1992)

One must permit his people the freedom to seek added work and greater responsibility. In my organization, there are no formal job descriptions or organization charts.

The Rickover Effect (1992)

The Quakers have an excellent approach to thinking through difficult problems, where a number of intelligent and responsible people must work together.

The Rickover Effect (1992)

The man in charge must concern himself with details.

The Rickover Effect (1992)

Human experience shows that people, not organizations or management systems, get things done.

The Rickover Effect (1992)

There are no parliamentary procedures and no coercion from the Chair.

The Rickover Effect (1992)

This is the price that must be paid for progress and it is worth it.

The Rickover Effect (1992)

When doing a job — any job — one must feel that he owns it, and act as though he will remain in that job forever.

The Rickover Effect (1992)

To do a job effectively, one must set priorities. Too many people let their "in" basket set the priorities.

The Rickover Effect (1992)

Any one detail, followed through to its source, will usually reveal the general state of readiness of the whole organization.

The Rickover Effect (1992)

Administration is, or ought to be, a necessary overhead to aid production, and should at all times be kept as low as possible.

The Rickover Effect (1992)

Require rising standards of adequacy.

The Rickover Effect (1992)

Knowing more about the public effects his work will have, the engineer ought to consider himself an “officer of the court” and keep the general interest always in mind.

The Rickover Effect (1992)

As a guide to engineering ethics, I should like to commend to you a liberal adaptation of the injunction contained in the oath of Hippocrates that the professional man do nothing that will harm his client.

The Rickover Effect (1992)

Nature is not as forgiving as Christ.

The Rickover Effect (1992)

Nothing so sharpens the thought process as writing down one's arguments. Weaknesses overlooked in oral discussion become painfully obvious on the written page.

The Rickover Effect (1992)

You know the answer to that, don’t you. You don’t need me to tell you.

The Rickover Effect (1992)

One must create the ability in his staff to generate clear, forceful arguments for opposing viewpoints as well as for their own. Open discussions and disagreements must be encouraged, so that all sides of an issue are fully explored.

The Rickover Effect (1992)

Attribution

Quotes and notes from Wikiquote: Hyman G. Rickover (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0.