Member-only story
What we can learn from the infamous Skunk Works designers & processes
I have always been interested with how other industries tackle innovation and design, particularly in the times before the modern world of software & technology altered the landscape of design process. We’ll look at the spark behind how innovation teams became popular and what lessons have stood the test of time...
What is ‘Skunk Works’?
We’ve all heard mentions of small, nimble, innovation teams given autonomy to tackle some of their industry’s hardest problems.
Origins
During World War II it was discovered that the German forces were developing technology that would change the face of warfare, high performance aircraft powered by the ‘jet engine’. The time was June 1943, the Air Tactical Service Command of the US Army Air Force met with Lockheed Aircraft Corporation, and laid the gauntlet to design and build a superior aircraft to meet the threat. Clarence ‘Kelly’ Johnson, an aeronautical engineer, and team delivered a proposal a month later for the ‘XP-80’ USA’s first jet fighter.
Having secured the contract this sparked the creation of the ‘Skunk Works’ team, a rapid and secretive design and development process, that astonishingly delivered the aircraft in just 143 days, a whole 7 days ahead of schedule. This new process spawned a legacy of rapidly designed and tested aircraft that completely changed the face of aviation (i.e. SR-71: fastest manned aircraft, F-117: world’s first stealth fighter) with advanced research and development with the methods Skunk Works developed at its core.
Developing cutting-edge technology needs scientific rigor & process, but also creative vision and problem solving. This balance is crucial especially for the aerospace realm, where designs and solutions need to work across diverse and harsh constraints and the extremes of physical environments.
What is the Skunk Works process?
When thinking about the process, there are two main dimensions, the team and the methods, informed and influenced…
