Church Transfusion: Neil Cole

Chapter 10: Skunk Works

During World War II the govenrment realised that their current engineering lines were only going to produce the same sort of results that it had done up until that point. What was needed was for a fresh approach. They commissioned some of the best minds to come up with something new. The new team of engineers were told to think together outside the box on a specific project. The group member began to push boundaries and think creatively and try new things. Without any of the red tape and bureaucracy they were free to get things done much faster and with better results.

They became known as 'skunk works' because of the smell of the plastic factory wafting into the tent. Today skunk works has become a technical term in tresearch and development and in the diffusion of innovation. It is widely used in business, engineering and technical fields to describe a group within an organization given a high degree of autonomy and unhampered by bureaucracy.

"Any true organic change must be internal, relational and advance virally - like a contagion from one person to the next."

Skunk Works considerations: 
1) Select your innovators carefully.
It is not necessary to involve many people in the beginning. It is far more important to select the right people. Every successful skunk works story emphasizes one common characteristic: the people were hand-selected, and the criteria for that selection were very important. You want people who are creative risk takers willing to try something new.
2) Grant permission.
the initial innovators should know that they have permission to try new things and even to fail. Ralph Winter: 'Risk are not to be evaluated in terms of the probability of success but in terms of the value of the goal.'
3) Set boundaries if you must - but not many.
The truth is that a spontaneous multiplication movement will seem out of control and the more control you demand the less likely you will be to release any movement. Example of a Bound Set & Centered Set approach. A bound set is approach is what Jesus is talking about when he says in John 10 'I have sheep who are not in this fold/pen' but a centered set is what Jesus means when he says 'my sheep hear my voice and follow me.' bound sets are held together by clear boundary markers whereas a centered set is done through proximity to a central person or landmark. In farming digging a well creates a centered set approach as people/animals naturally stay close to the well without the need for fences.
4) Start in places other than your church or campus.