THE SECRETS TO CREATING A KILLER SKUNKWORKS

uring World War II, the aerospace giant Lockheed

created a remote incubator to tackle the war’s most critical tasks. German jet fighters had just appeared over Europe, and America needed a counterpunch. The mission was unbelievable critical, THE DEADLINE IMPOSSIBLY TIGHT.

D

THE NEW REMOTE OFFICE was intentionally located in a circus tent next to an exceptionally stinky plastics factory (to keep nosy people away).

The strong smells that wafted into the tent made the Lockheed R&D workers think of the foul-smelling “Skunk Works” factory in Al Capp’s legendary comic strip Li’l Abner.

The small team inside the stinky tent designed and built America's first jet fighter in just 143 days, and created a philosophy for rapid innovation which companies copy to this day.

WHENEVER A COMPANY WANTED TO GO BOLD, SKUNK WAS OFTEN THE WAY INNOVATION GOT DONE.

TODAY,

“GOING SKUNK”is often used to describe an especially enriched environment that is intended

to help a small group of individuals design a new idea by escaping routine

organizational procedures.

“IT IS BETTER TO BE A PIRATE

THAN JOIN THE NAVY.

— STEVE JOBS

”

WHEN IT COMES TO FOSTERING

BOLD INNOVATION...

Why is it better to be a pirate? Why does the skunk methodology consistently foster such great results? And most important, what does this have to do with today’s entrepreneur and a desire to tackle the BOLD?

TURNS OUT, PLENTY.

S K U N K S E C R E T # 1

BIG GOALS

They are created to tackle the Herculean, purposefully built around what psychologists call

“HIGH, HARD GOALS.”

It’s the difficult nature of those goals that is actually the first secret to skunk success.

COMPANIES DO NOT GO SKUNK FOR BUSINESS AS USUAL.

If you want the largest increase in motivation and productivity, then BIG GOALS lead to the BEST OUTCOMES.

BIG GOALS significantly outperform small goals, medium-sized

goals, and vague goals.

It comes down to ATTENTION and PERSISTENCE — which are two of the most important factors

in determining performance.

BIG GOALS

help focus attention, and they make us more persistent.

THE RESULT is...

Because the practice focuses attention & increases motivation, BY SETTING BIG GOALS WE’RE ACTUALLY

HELPING OURSELVES ACHIEVE THOSE BIG GOALS.

we’re much more effective when we work, andwe’re much more willing to get up and try again when we fail.

1

2

S K U N K S E C R E T # 2

ISOLATION

WALL THEskunk works off from the rest of the corporate bureaucracy.

ISOLATIONstimulates risk taking,

encouraging ideas weird and wild, and acting as a counterforce to

organizational inertia.

ISOLATION MAY BE THE MOST IMPORTANT KEY TO SUCCESS IN A SKUNK WORKS.

ORGANIZATIONAL INERTIA IS the notion that once any company achieves success, its desire to develop and champion radical new technologies and directions is often tempered by the much stronger desire not to disrupt existing markets and lose their paychecks. COMFORT

ZONE

A BIGGER, BETTER

OPPORTUNITY

ORGANIZATIONAL INERTIA IS FEAR OF FAILURE WRIT LARGE. IT IS THE REASON:

Kodak didn’t recognize the

brilliance of the digital camera

IBM initially dismissed

the personal computer

America Online (AOL)

is, well, barely online

Just as the successful skunk works

isolates the innovation team from the greater organization,

successful entrepreneurs need a buffer between

themselves and the rest of society.

In any organization the bulk of your people will be climbing the hill they’re standing on. That’s what you want them to do. That’s their job.

A SKUNK WORKS DOES A TOTALLY DIFFERENT JOB.

It’s a group of people looking for a better hill to climb. This is threatening to the rest of the organization. It

just makes good sense to separate these two groups.”

‘‘

ASTRO TELLER, DIRECTOR “GOOGLE X” LABORATORIES [X]

S K U N K S E C R E T # 3

RAPID ITERATION (FAST FEEDBACK)

and this means having a strategy in place to handle risk and learn from mistakes is critical.

If you’re looking for a quick & dirty understanding, try the unofficial motto of Silicon Valley:

“FAIL EARLY, FAIL OFTEN, FAIL FORWARD.”

THE ROAD TO BOLD is paved with failure,

X X X X X X

BOLD VENTURES

— ESPECIALLY THE WORLD-CHANGING TYPE WE’RE ADVOCATING HERE,

REQUIRE A KIND OF EXPERIMENTAL APPROACH

INSTEAD OF LAUNCHING A FINELY POLISHED GEM, COMPANIES NOW:

Release a “minimum viable product,” then get immediate feedback from customers, incorporate that feedback into the next iteration, release a slightly upgraded version, and repeat.

Instead of design cycles that last years, the agile process takes weeks and produces results directly in line with consumer expectations. THIS IS RAPID ITERATION.

TRYING OUT CRAZY IDEAS means bucking expert opinion and taking big risks. It means not being afraid to fail. Because you will fail.

“If you’re not embarrassed by the first version of your product, you’ve

launched too late.” — REID HOFFMAN, LINKEDIN FOUNDER

S K U N K S E C R E T # 4

INTRINSIC REWARDS

FOR MOST OF THE LAST CENTURY, science focused on extrinsic rewards, that is, external

motivators, “if-then” conditions of the “do this to get that” variety.

WITH EXTRINSIC REWARDS, WE INCENTIVIZE THE BEHAVIOR WE WANT MORE OF AND

PUNISH THE BEHAVIOR WE DISLIKE. For example, in business when we want to drive performance, we offer classic extrinsic rewards:

bonuses (money) and promotions (money & prestige).

UNFORTUNATELY, AN EVER-GROWING PILE OF RESEARCH SHOWS THAT EXTRINSIC REWARDS DO NOT WORK LIKE MOST SUPPOSE.

Once people’s basic needs are no longer a constant cause for concern, extrinsic rewards lose their effectiveness and can CRUSH THE HIGH-LEVEL, CREATIVE, CONCEPTUAL ABILITIES THAT ARE CENTRAL to current and future economic and social progress.

—meaning internal, emotional satisfactions— become far more critical.

THREE IN PARTICULAR STAND OUT:

AUTONOMY the desire to

steer our own ship

MASTERY the desire to steer it well

PURPOSE the need for the journey to mean

something

INTRINSIC REWARDS

Science shows that the SECRET TO HIGH PERFORMANCE

isn’t our Biological Drive (survival needs),

or our Reward-and-

Punishment Drive...

THESE THREE INTRINSIC REWARDS ARE THE VERY MOTIVATORS THAT MOTIVATE US MOST.

...BUT OUR THIRD DRIVE— our deep-seated desire to direct our own lives, to extend and expand our

abilities, and to fill our life with purpose.

Since Lockheed’s massive success, everyone from Raytheon and DuPont to Walmart and

Nordstrom has gotten in on the skunk game. !

In the early 1980s, Apple cofounder Steve Jobs leased a building behind the Good Earth restaurant in Silicon Valley,

stocked it with twenty brilliant designers, and created his own skunk works to build the first Macintosh computer.

THE SKUNK APPROACH is one of the most successful in modern history. The same

philosophy can be applied to any business or entrepreneur looking TO GO BOLD.

TO ACCOMPLISH THE IMPOSSIBLE.

BOLD is a visionary roadmap

for people who believe they can change the world—

and offers invaluable advice about bringing together

patterns and technologies to help them do it.

— PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON

Order BOLD Today!