EkaLore is fascinated by the philosophy and the accomplishments of Lockheed-Martin’s Skunk works.
The principles enumerated by Kelly Johnson are near and dear to us. Even though these principles were formulated in the middle of the last century. They still work today. We do think that some principles are a little more timeless than others. Here’s an example of like thinking.
The Software Executive of the United States Air Force recognized Space-X for what we consider to be 21st Century Skunk Works principles:
Apply specialist resources to produce break-thru results with managed risks.
Minimize politics and bureaucracy to fail quickly or succeed brilliantly.
Take risks not done by incremental research or operations to get results.
The example is the software team at Space-X in charge of launcher software.
Consistent with Kelly Johnson’s Skunk Works Rules:
A comparatively small team is used. (KJ#3) (50 at Space-X and 2500+ at USAF)
Approvals for software tools can be done in 24 hours for a team (KJ#4)
Testing is done with full emulation and testing. (KJ#9)
Consistent with 21st Century Principles EkaLore has identified:
Specialist resources are applied to infrastructure leveraging multiple teams (EK#1)
At 5 second intervals a commit can be processed for production software. (EK#2)
Elon Musk: “if things are not failing, you aren’t innovating enough.” (EK#3)
Space-x is an example of a 21st Century Enterprise Skunk Works pushing for competitive advantage by applying consistent principles for enterprise operations.
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