We are reaching the end of our ranking list and today comes to visit us at number two, the American Clarence Leonard “Kelly” Johnson (1910 – 1990), one of the best aeronautic designers that has ever existed. His list of designs astonishes everybody. From the P-38 Lightning (the double engine fighter of WWII) up to the SR-71 Blackbird (which still holds the speed record for an aircraft taking off from the ground, at more than 3500 km/h), including also the P-80 Shooting Star, the F-104 Starfighter and the U-2 Dragon Lady reconnaissance aircraft. One of his greatest achievements was the creation in Lockheed (the company where he worked almost all his life) a legendary engineering group known as “Skunk Works” which is still today the benchmark for any “Black Nailed” engineer. His credo was condensed into the so called ‘14 rules’ that you can find in the Internet and are a paradigm of how engineering can be understood in a different way.
Therefore I put “Kelly” Johnson in the second position.
Some weeks ago I promised to explain to you how the leading people are. I mean those who lead small engineering groups which, in big companies, are strongholds of wisdom, activity and know how. Today, the day when “Kelly Johnson” enters our ranking list, is the best time to do it and that’s what this entry is all about.
Needless to say, that these people are special and with them there are no half measures. They either hate you or they love you, and the same thing will happen to you. They are people who do not accept shades of grey, things are black or white and this love/hate relationship marks their connection with others. For this reason, these individuals are usually tolerated, even respected within the organization, but the obstinate defense of their principles (no matter if these are shared or not), makes them be considered by many people as dangerous elements.
If we had to point out some distinctive peculiarities of their character we could highlight the following:
- They talk little and listen a lot (although usually they ask you about everything)
- Once they take a decision, it is very hard to make them change the path that they have marked
- They are great organizers and planners
- They know perfectly the ins and outs of the organization and are able to take advantage of the weaknesses
- They defend to the last end everyone on their team
- They hate the mass meetings (small meetings too, unless these are with their people)
- They have a great vision for the future and they try, by all means, that the present jobs are the starting point for the future works
Their two major skills are:
- The know how to organize and plan the problems to be solved in a logical way
- Create and keep the team spirit
As I mentioned before, you can like these people or not, but I can assure you that they won’t leave you cold.
They have another peculiarity that, personally, may even exasperate you. They can pull you from euphoria to frustration within a split second. No matter how well you think you have done your work, they will always tell you that it is excellent and if they had to score you, they would give you 8 points out of 10, but next time you should do your best to reach 9 points.
You should understand this in a positive way, because they are trying to do a compliment, as they are sure that you are able to do it even better.
People who are with them, fully identify with the work they do, no matter which difficulties they face, holding a spirit that you can’t find in other areas of the company. They share problems and solutions and this is something unusual, because, by our nature, human beings are not used to share anything.
These people are completely intolerant towards mediocrity around them and have no problems expressing it out loud, and this makes them a pain in the ass in the organization. However, as they show good results, the direction board allows them to continue with their activity trying that their attitude does not spread to other departments that are more submissive and obedient and follow the most absurd guidelines without question them.
If you ever find yourself in a group like this and want to be one of the “unusuals”, talk to the person in charge. Just to do it will be a point in your favor. But you should know very well what you are doing, because this will mark you forever in the company and for good and for bad, you will be a “skunk” forever.
A thought:
If you never make mistakes, it is because you do nothing. If you are wrong from time to time it’s because you are gaining experience. If you often fail, you should check your priorities. If you always fail you should change your work.
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