Hyman G. Rickover
Hyman George Rickover was born on January 27, 1900, in Maków Mazowiecki, and later became a citizen of the United States. His education followed a deliberate institutional course, taking him through John Marshall Metropolitan High School, the United States Naval Academy, the Naval Postgraduate School, and the Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science.
Rickover built his career as a military officer in the United States Navy, serving as a submariner and rising to the rank of admiral. He worked in English throughout his professional life, operating within American naval institutions across a long career. The honors he received reflect the scope of that service: he was awarded the Enrico Fermi Award, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and the Congressional Gold Medal, the last of these granted by an act of Congress.
Rickover died on July 8, 1986, in Arlington County, having served his country across much of the twentieth century. The Congressional Gold Medal he received stands as one of the formal acknowledgments the nation extended to him during his lifetime.
Quotes by Hyman G. Rickover
What it takes to do a job will not be learned from management courses. It is principally a matter of experience, the proper attitude, and common sense – none of which can be taught in a classroom... Human experience shows that people, not organizations or management systems, get things done.
If you are going to sin, sin against God, not the bureaucracy. God will forgive you but the bureaucracy won't.
Responsibility is a unique concept... You may share it with others, but your portion is not diminished. You may delegate it, but it is still with you... If responsibility is rightfully yours, no evasion, or ignorance or passing the blame can shift the burden to someone else. Unless you can point your finger at the man who is responsible when something goes wrong, then you have never had anyone really responsible.
More than ambition, more than ability, it is rules that limit contribution; rules are the lowest common denominator of human behavior. They are a substitute for rational thought.
Sit down before fact with an open mind. Be prepared to give up every preconceived notion. Follow humbly wherever and to whatever abyss Nature leads or you learn nothing. Don’t push out figures when facts are going in the opposite direction.
They all have excellent resumes... So what I’m trying to find out is how they will behave under pressure.
When doing a job — any job — one must feel that he owns it, and act as though he will remain in that job forever.
I believe it is the duty of each of us to act as if the fate of the world depended on him. Admittedly, one man by himself cannot do the job. However, one man can make a difference. We must live for the future of the human race, and not for our own comfort or success.