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Skunk Works:
Elite Innovation Without Bureaucracy

Agile Innovation for Complex Problems

In large organisations, critical projects often get stuck — buried under layers of process, policy, and politics. A Skunk Works cuts through all of that.

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It’s a small, highly trusted unit — separate from the main organisation — designed to rapidly solve “unsolvable” problems using an interdisciplinary approach.

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Kerry Spackman has led Skunk Works-style teams for over two decades, delivering world-class results in areas where traditional methods have failed.

The GoldMine Project

Skunk Works for Olympic Innovation

Kerry created and led a Skunk Works initiative called GoldMine, developed for the New Zealand Government to improve Olympic performance.

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The brief was bold: build a system to give Kiwi athletes a world-class edge — fast.

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Here’s what GoldMine achieved:

  • Designed and delivered a biomechanical and data analytics platform for Olympic sports

  • Built tools that translated neuroscience and engineering into real-world performance gains

  • Enabled New Zealand athletes to train more effectively, recover faster, and outperform global competitors

  • Successfully implemented without disrupting existing sports structures or national systems

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GoldMine proved that even in highly structured environments like government and elite sport, a Skunk Works can:

  • Move faster than bureaucracy

  • Deliver measurable impact

  • Foster breakthrough thinking

  • Protect core systems while innovating around them

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The project was so successful that it became internationally recognised — not just for its sporting results, but for its innovation model.

Why Kerry's Skunk Works Works

Most innovation teams focus on product or tech. Kerry’s Skunk Works focus on human performance and thinking systems — combining:

  • Cognitive neuroscience

  • Mathematics and systems design

  • Elite performance psychology

  • Learning architecture and technology

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This allows his teams to:

  • Rapidly test and validate ideas

  • Build tools that reshape how people think and act

  • Solve problems in weeks that would normally take years

Kerry helps CEOs and execs create compact, high-trust innovation teams to address challenges like:

To CEOs & Exec Teams:

You don’t need to restructure your company. You need a high-trust, fast-moving Skunk Works to prototype the future.

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Whether you’re in consulting, education, government, or global industry — Kerry can design a low-risk pilot team that delivers high-impact results and sets a new standard for thinking inside your organisation.

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Ready to move faster?

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