Charles Ray Jones

What Every Good Citizen Should Know: The 12 Elements of Common Sense (The Technidigm Protocol) Charles Ray Jones

The author, Charles Ray Jones, provides a simplified decision-making and problem resolution process using a distillation of the high-reliability factors and processes demanded of those, for example, who are in charge of ensuring the safe operations of nuclear power plants.

Starting with his graduation from the U. S. Naval Academy in 1966 and entry into the Nuclear Propulsion Program, he rose to the position of top Nuclear Chief Engineer Instructor. He was responsible for the testing and startup of the advanced reactors in the first of the class USS Nimitz CVN 68 nuclear powered aircraft carrier. He continued his 5-decade nuclear-related career as a consultant to the U. S. Department of Energy and the U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. He then became an instructor for employees of all Federal Agencies regarding classified nuclear weapon and uranium enrichment technologies. His career encompassed a demanding technical paradigm (Technidigm) as well as fundamental, underlying elements of integrity and honor necessary to do the hard right instead of the easy wrong. He holds two masters degrees from MIT and another from Johns Hopkins.

His distillation of his extensive practical knowledge and management experience in the nuclear industry, forming the "12 Technidigm Elements of Common Sense" in the mid-1990's, has emerged in 2021 as "The Technidigm Protocol," further simplifying the "12 Elements of Common Sense" into three progressive parts. Those able to understand and master all 12 parts are well on their way to becoming "Technidigm Masters." As one might expect, it takes the skills, experience, and insights of "Technidigm Masters" to achieve results such as certifiably safe nuclear power plants. All other undertakings (with the possible exception of advanced space flight projects) are of lesser demand but often also involve public safety and even environmental protection.

Those readers able to make it through the first two parts of "The Technidigm Protocol" can at least become "Technidigm Practitioners" and actually take on the responsibility of producing plans and solutions to issues, problems, and projects requiring increasingly high levels of expertise, dedication, and integrity. Nevertheless, it is best to rely on "Technidigm Masters" to execute proposed solutions.

Finally, those who manage to only get through the first part of the book are "Technidigm Novices" since they are at least able to recognize when those around them are applying the "12 Technidigm Elements of Common Sense." That is, a "Technidigm Novice" can easily recognize when a manager, a politician, or even a news journalist is failing to address all 12 elements of an issue. In that regard, a "Technidigm Novice" can appear to be the smartest person in the room.

In addition, using Appendix A as a model, even "Technidigm Novices" can determine a relative "Technidigm Capability Score" for themselves, their managers, their politicians, and even their favorite news men and women. These numeric scores support the identification of our past, current, and future leaders through rough numerical approximations, resulting in relative risk determinations similar to everyday practices in the nuclear industry.