skunkworks

A high-tech, creative team that tackles a problem in its own style. A skunkworks team usually possesses one or all of the following characteristics: a unique brand of management, as far from traditional structure as possible; a small and focused core group of people with no internal management hierarchy; a significant contribution from renegade programmers who work around the clock until the project is done; a unified desire to accomplish the goal without letting red tape or bureaucracy get in the way; and a level of secrecy from the corporation maintained until the first level of success is achieved.