Hiring the Outliers

Building innovation teams requires a different breed

The very balance of air superiority during World War II was at risk of being upended. Germany was close to launching the world’s first jet fighter, the Messerschmitt Me 262, a plane faster and more heavily armored than anything comparable in the Allied fleet.

In response, the US military asked Lockheed Martin to produce a jet fighter prototype. The catch was that it needed to be ready in 150 days. Lockheed put 33 year-old chief engineer Kelly Johnson on the task, who had quickly risen up the ranks based on his success building the twin-engine P-38.

Kelly set up his team with 30 engineers and 30 mechanics in a bomber production area in Burbank, California. To keep the work secret, he rented a circus tent and began the work with his team of geeks to produce a plane that would fly 200 mph faster than the P-38.

One problem emerged though. The tent was located next to a noxious plastics factory and the stench kept wafting into the tent. One day project engineer Irv Culver picked up a call and responded, “Skunk works”. The name stuck and eventually became the team’s logo.

The XP-80 was completed seven days ahead of schedule on January 1944. Lockheed Martin’s Advanced Development Program, aka…