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What Are Kelly Johnson's 14 Rules for Skunk Works? · Founders

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#419 Kelly Johnson: Skunk Works

Kelly Johnson’s “14 Points” read like a SpaceX operations manual — 60 years before SpaceX was founded. Kelly Johnson created Skunk Works, which he defined as: “A concentration of a few good people solving problems far in advance—and at a fraction of the cost—of other groups by applying the simplest, most straightforward methods possible to develop and…

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Notes

  1. Why Does Elon Musk Cite the SR-71 Blackbird? at 1:02

    David Senra says Elon Musk cites the SR-71 Blackbird when he tells his team that speed is a massive competitive advantage. Full answer

  2. How Did a Tiny Skunk Works Team Beat Bigger Groups? at 14:22

    David Senra says Kelly Johnson built the world's fastest aircraft with 135 engineers, then sets that against a company with 1,206 people in quality control… Full answer

  3. What Are Kelly Johnson's 14 Rules for Skunk Works? at 15:44

    David Senra, reading Kelly Johnson's autobiography, says Johnson wrote 14 points as the basic operating rules of Skunk Works. Full answer

  4. What Is Lockheed's Skunk Works? at 18:22

    David Senra, reading Kelly Johnson, says Skunk Works is a concentration of a few good people solving problems far in advance, and at a fraction of the cost of… Full answer

  5. What Did Kelly Johnson Do First at Lockheed? at 27:43

    David Senra says Kelly Johnson's first act at Lockheed was to tell the two lead designers that their plane was unstable. Full answer

  6. How Fast Did Lockheed Build a Submarine Hunting Plane? at 33:18

    David Senra says Kelly Johnson won Lockheed an order for 200 airplanes, the largest aircraft production order placed in the United States up to that time… Full answer

  7. What Was the First Skunk Works Shop Like? at 40:36

    David Senra, reading Kelly Johnson, says the first Skunk Works shop was built from old wooden boxes and a circus tent. Full answer

  8. What Is the SR-71 Blackbird? at 45:32

    David Senra says the SR-71 Blackbird is the airplane Kelly Johnson and Skunk Works created during LBJ's presidency. It flies at three times the speed of sound. Full answer

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