Skunk Works® Operating Rules

This admirable philosophy resulted in the Lockheed SR-71 reconnaissance jet, which flew at 85,000+ feet and Mach 3.3+.   Over 800 attempts were made to shoot it down, none successful.   This spectacular illustration of engineering excellence advancing the state of the art occurred about a half-century ago but the philosophy is timeless.   Kelly Johnson ran the Lockheed Skunk Works®, which conceived, modeled, built, tested, and troubleshot the SR-71.

• The Skunk Works manager must be delegated practically complete control of his program in all aspects.   He should report to a division president or higher.
• Strong but small project offices must be provided both by the military and industry.
• The number of people having any connnection with the project must be restricted in an almost vicious manner. Use a small number of good people (10% to 25% compared to the so-called normal systems).
• A very simple drawing and drawing release system with great flexibility for making changes must be provided.
• There must be a minimum number of reports required, but important work must be recorded thoroughly.
• There must be a monthly cost review covering not only what has been spent and committed but also projected costs to the conclusion of the program.   Don't have the books ninety days late and don't surprise the customer with sudden overruns.
• The contractor must be delegated and must assume more than normal responsibility to get good vendor bids for subcontract work on the project.   Commercial bid procedures are very often better than military ones.
• The inspection system currently used by ADP should be used.   Push more basic inspection back to the vendor -- don't pay for pieces that don't work!   Don't duplicate so much inspection.
• The contractor must be delegated the authority to test his final product in flight.   He can and must test it in the initial stages.   If he doesn't he rapidly loses his competency to design other vehicles.
• The specifications applying to the project must be agreed to in advance of contracting.   Be sure there is mutual understanding in this field before proceeding; otherwise it takes a mammoth contracting department to unscramble the mess that normally develops.
• Funding a program must be timely so that the contractor doesn't have to keep running to the bank to support government projects.
• There must be mutual trust between the military project organization and the contractor, with very close cooperation and liaison on a day to day basis.   This cuts down misunderstandings and correspondence to an absolute minimum.
• Access by outsiders to the project and its personnel must be strictly controlled by appropriate security measures.
• Because only a few people will be used in engineering and most other areas, ways must be provided to reward good performance by pay not based on the number of personnel supervised.

Skunk Works® is a registered trademark of Lockheed Martin Corporation.