What is the theme in Skunk Works: A Personal Memoir of My Years at Lockheed by Ben R. Rich?

The competition is another theme in the story. One of the major driving forces of the plot is competition. The Skunk Works had to compete against the other major aerospace firms, particularly - at one point - with Northrop. In Chapter 15, Lockheed competes with Northrop for a defense contract to build a new stealth bomber. Typically, Lockheed's Skunk Works stayed competitive through building innovative craft for reasonable costs and maintained a high degree of business integrity. In this case, however, Northrop appears to have secured the contract despite their higher costs due to the fact that they were in business trouble and the government took responsibility for the operation of many of the major aerospace firms.