The Impossible Factory - by Josh Dean (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

The extraordinary true story of Lockheed Martin's "Skunk Works"--the radical innovation hub that designed the greatest airplanes of the twentieth century--and the visionary who made it all possible

It began with a humble warehouse building in Burbank, California, and a charismatic young engineer named Kelly Johnson. In 1938, Johnson, who was then freshly out of the University of Michigan's school of engineering, got the idea for a small, agile, disruptive engineering shop--one that could help America's war machine innovate more quickly. By 1943, with the U.S. now in World War II and desperate for new technology, "Advanced Development Projects"--later nicknamed the "Skunk Works"--was born.

During Johnson's forty-seven years at Lockheed Martin, the Skunk Works developed at least half a dozen planes that would have been the capstone achievement of anyone else's career. There was the P-38 Lighting, which outdueled Axis pilots over Europe and the Pacific. The XP-80, America's first ever fighter jet, which did indeed help the Allies win World War II. The Constellation, the first passenger plane with a pressurized cabin, revolutionized commercial air travel. The U-2 spy plane, which could reach an astonishing altitude of 70,000 feet, enabling it could fly dangerous covert missions in Soviet airspace during the height of the Cold War. And perhaps most famous of all, the A-12/SR-71 Blackbird, one of the most unusual, and iconic, planes ever designed.

But the planes were only part of Kelly Johnson's legacy. There was also his management style, which would come to shape organizations for decades to come. Under him, the Skunk Works' structure--flat management, no red tape, extraordinary speed--quickly became the model for nurturing innovation, and eventually would fuel the nimble startups of Silicon Valley. Half a century before Mark Zuckerberg coined the motto "move fast and break things," Kelly Johnson was living that mantra--and at the same time helping the Department of Defense secure the fate of the free world.

Review Quotes

"An immersive account of Lockheed Martin's Skunk Works and its visionary founder, Kelly Johnson. The Impossible Factory brings to life the flat management and speed-focused approach that would become a precursor to the 'move fast and break things' mantra of Silicon Valley. Josh tells this epic story of the power of American ingenuity with style, making you feel like you're working with Johnson on the 20th century's signature aircraft."
--New York Times bestselling author Kevin Maurer

About the Author

Josh Dean is a New York-based journalist, author, and podcaster. His work has appeared in Popular Science, GQ, Men's Journal, Rolling Stone, and many other places. He is the cofounder of the acclaimed narrative podcast studio Campside Media, and the author of The Taking of K-129: How the CIA Used Howard Hughes to Steal a Russian Sub in the Most Daring Covert Operation in History, as well as Show Dog: The Charmed Life and Trying Times of a Near-Perfect Purebred.