how to build a trillion dollar company

The Blackbird was based on an earlier prototype called the A-12 because it was the 12th plane designed as part of Skunk Work’s “Archangel” program. All these projects were the result of iterative design improvements and were made possible by the compounding knowledge of a relatively small group of men who worked together for decades.

One of his strongest beliefs was that engineers should be located as close as possible to where their planes were being built. Engineers were expected to live their designs, spending up to a third of their time on the shop floor to see how their ideas were being translated into actual parts. Over time, many of these engineers would work on 20 or... See more