Skunkworks

In the movies, there’s a common storyline in which there’s a cop who refuses to play by the rules and so they make him a part of a secret elite team that operates outside the rules and wipes out evil gangsters, drug dealers, and criminal syndicates. Skunkworks is the engineering equivalent. Take a bunch of engineers who are exceptionally good at what they do but totally hate being put into the restraints of process, structure and management. Put them into a separate department where they can let their turbulent ideas flow through their minds and hands. Give them time, and look at the results.

The term Skunkworks originated at Lockheed Martin and is very similar to the term “bootlegging”, with a very subtle difference between the two. Hackathons are time-bound events that last a few days and may include contributors from outside the organization. Other similar ways to encourage innovation are coding contests, Google Summer of Code projects, and Startup Weekend.