Kelly’s 14 Skunk Works Rules: Leadership Principles that Matter
Strategies and Techniques for Change Agents, Strategists, and Innovators
Change your opinions, keep to your principles; change your leaves, keep intact your roots — Victor Hugo
Ever wonder if you should just borrow Amazon’s Leadership Principles for your own team? Believe it or not, my advice is actually “Don’t.” While Amazon’s tenets clearly work for Amazon, creating a truly high-performing culture means crafting your own set of leadership principles, or operating rules, that speak to your unique mission, values, and goals.
Let’s look at the legendary Lockheed Martin Skunk Works program. Guided by Kelly Johnson’s 14 Rules, they pushed the boundaries of aeronautics and achieved feats most thought impossible. It was these bespoke rules—built around their specific vision and challenges—that propelled Skunk Works to historic success. Here’s their story.
The SR-71 Blackbird
Background
The Skunk Works program, a division of Lockheed Martin, is a classic in Big Bet Leadership—bold, high-risk initiatives that redefine industries and set new standards. Established during World War II to design the P-80 Shooting Star, the first operational U.S. jet fighter, Skunk Works became synonymous with rapid innovation, breakthrough technology and breaking bureaucracy.
Working under immense time constraints and limited oversight, the team, led by legendary engineer Kelly Johnson, delivered cutting-edge aircraft such as the U-2 spy plane, the SR-71 Blackbird, and the F-117 Nighthawk stealth fighter. This elite division demonstrated the power of autonomous, high-velocity teams that operate outside bureaucratic constraints to drive transformational outcomes.
What set Skunk Works apart was its unwavering commitment to organizational velocity and clarity. Johnson’s “14 Rules and Practices” were an early blueprint for streamlined, outcome-driven execution, eliminating unnecessary layers of approval and focusing only on what mattered—building superior aircraft, fast.
The SR-71 Blackbird, a jet that still holds the world speed record decades after its retirement, exemplifies this philosophy. Skunk Works didn’t just build aircraft; it fundamentally redefined air superiority, showing that in high-stakes innovation, a well-led, empowered team can deliver results that seem impossible.
Kelly’s 14 Rules
Kelly Johnson, the pioneering aeronautical engineer who led Lockheed’s Skunk Works, articulated a set of guidelines—often referred to as “Kelly’s 14 Rules”—to foster rapid innovation and efficient project management. Although you may find slight variations in wording across different sources, the essence remains consistent.
Here is a commonly cited version of those 14 rules:
Manager's Authority: The project manager should have complete control over the project in all aspects.
Small Project Offices: Both the military and industry should provide small, efficient project offices.
Limited Team Size: The number of people involved in the project should be kept to a minimum.
Simple Systems: A simple and flexible system for drawings and changes should be in place.
Minimal Reports: The number of reports should be kept to a minimum, but important work should be thoroughly documented.
Monthly Cost Reviews: Regular monthly cost reviews should be conducted, covering both past and projected costs.
Contractor Responsibility: The contractor should be delegated more responsibility for obtaining good vendor bids.
Streamlined Inspection: The inspection system should be efficient and not duplicate efforts.
Testing Authority: The contractor should have the authority to test the final product in flight.
Early Specifications: Specifications should be agreed upon well in advance of contracting.
Timely Funding: Funding should be provided in a timely manner to avoid delays.
Mutual Trust: There should be mutual trust and close cooperation between the military and the contractor.
Controlled Access: Access to the project and its personnel should be strictly controlled.
Performance-Based Rewards: Rewards should be based on performance, not on the number of personnel supervised.
These rules emphasize small teams, clear communication, efficient processes, and trust between stakeholders. They have been credited with the success of numerous projects, including the development of the U-2 and SR-71 Blackbird aircraft.
Build Your Principles
For principles to serve as a true cornerstone of a high-performance organization, they must be rooted in the mission, translated into concrete actions rather than empty platitudes, and foster both consistency and scalability within the culture.
The appendix for The Amazon Way is titled “Building Your Principles” and lays out my suggested approach for establishing your principles or team tenets.
Tom Alberg, founder of Madrona Venture Capital, early Amazon investor and longtime Amazon board member said this about The Amazon Way
Get your copy HERE.
Onward!
John
About The Digital Leader Newsletter
This is a newsletter for change agents, strategists, and innovators. The Digital Leader Newsletter is a weekly coaching session focusing on customer-centricity, innovation, and strategy. We deliver practical theory, examples, tools, and techniques to help you build better strategies, better plans, and better solutions — but most of all, to think and communicate better.
John Rossman is a keynote speaker and advisor on leadership and innovation. Learn more at www.johnrossman.com.