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Managing Lockheed’s Skunk Works - by Eric Gilliam

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This piece covers how Kelly Johnson managed Lockheed’s famous Skunk Works. In its early decades, Skunk Works continuously produced novel aircraft that pushed the aviation industry forward. Its three most iconic aircraft were the U-2 “spy plane,” the Sr-71 Blackbird — still considered a cutting-edge aircraft 60 years after it was built — and the partially DARPA-funded F-117 Nighthawk — the first stealth bomber. Johnson believed the simple management playbook he used to operate his Skunk Works was “common sense.” Still, Johnson’s ruthless commitment to maintaining small teams and fiercely anti-bureaucratic processes proved difficult for competitors to replicate. The success of Johnson’s methods and the failures of competitors to replicate them carries key lessons for R&D organizations and funders alike. What the Skunk Works does is secret. How it does it is not. I have been trying to convince others to use our principles and practices for years. The basic concept as well as specific rule

ARPA Playbook Managing Lockheed’s Skunk Works And Many Stories About the Maleffects of Bureaucracy on R&D Eric Gilliam Mar 07, 2024 51 3 8 Share This piece covers how Kelly Johnson managed Lockheed’s famous Skunk Works. In its early decades, Skunk Works continuously produced novel aircraft that pushed the aviation industry forward. Its three most iconic aircraft were the U-2 “spy plane,” the Sr-71 Blackbird — still considered a cutting-edge aircraft 60 years after it was built — and the partially DARPA-funded F-117 Nighthawk — the first stealth bomber. Johnson believed the simple management pl

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