Against the Tide: Rickover's Leadership Principles

Against the Tide is a leadership book that illustrates how Adm. Hyman Rickover made a unique impact on American and Navy culture. Dave Oliver is the first former nuclear submarine commander who sailed for the venerable admiral to write about Rickover's management techniques. Oliver draws upon a wealth of untold stories to show how one man changed American and Navy culture while altering the course of history.

The driving force behind America's nuclear submarine navy, Rickover revolutionized naval warfare while concurrently proving to be a wellspring of innovation that drove American technology in the latter half of the twentieth-century. As a testament to his success, Rickover's single-minded focus on safety protected both American citizens and sailors from nuclear contamination, a record that is in stark contrast to the dozens of nuclear reactor accidents suffered by the Russians.

While Rickover has been the subject of a number of biographies, little has been written about his unique management practices that changed the culture of a two-hundred-year-old institution and affected the outcome of the Cold War. Rickover's achievements have been obscured because they were largely conducted in secret and because he possessed a demanding and abrasive personality that alienated many potential supporters. Nevertheless he was an extraordinary manager with significant lessons for all those in decision-making positions.

The author had the good fortune to know and to serve under Rickover during much of his thirty-year career in the Navy and is singularly qualified to demonstrate the management and leadership principles behind Rickover's success.

The author Rear Admiral Dave Oliver, USN (Ret.) is a 1963 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy who spent thirty-two years in the Navy, served at sea on board both diesel-electric and nuclear submarines, commanded a nuclear submarine, and served as chief of staff of the Seventh Fleet. His final military tour was as principal deputy to the civilian Navy acquisition executive. During the Clinton administration he was Principal Deputy Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics and in the Bush administration he was the director of management and budget for the Coalition Forces in Iraq.