Yet most organizations have an implicit mission to destroy an adversary, and that is often more motivating than their explicit mission. The decline of Apple follows the subsequent softening of their mission. They view themselves as winning underdogs. World-changing groups are usually populated by mavericks, people at the periphery of their disciplines. These groups do not regard the mainstream as the sacred Ganges.
Members pay a personal price.
Divorces, affairs, and other severe emotional fallout are typical, especially when a project ends. At the Skunk Works, for example, people couldn't even tell their families what they were working on. They were located in a cheerless, rundown building in Burbank, of all places, far from Lockheed's corporate headquarters and main plants. So groups strike a Faustian bargain for the intensity and energy that they generate. Great Groups make strong leaders.