Hedgehogs and Foxes

I’m about 75% of the way through Good to Great by Jim Collins. In Chapter 5, he introduces the “Hedgehog Concept”:

The fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one big thing. The fox is a cunning creature, able to devise a myriad of complex strategies for sneak attacks upon the hedgehog. Day in and day out, the fox circles around the hedgehog’s den, waiting for the perfect moment to pounce. Fast, sleek, beautiful, fleet of foot, and crafty—the fox looks like the sure winner. The hedgehog, on the other hand, is a dowdier creature, looking like a genetic mix-up between a porcupine and a small armadillo. He waddles along, going about his simple day, searching for lunch and taking care of his home. The fox waits in cunning silence at the juncture in the trail. The hedgehog minding his own business, wanders right into the path of the fox. “Aha, I’ve got you now!” thinks the fox. He leaps out, bounding across the ground, lightning fast. The little hedgehog, sensing danger, looks up and thinks, “Here we go again. Will he ever learn?” Rolling up into a perfect little ball, the hedgehog becomes a sphere of sharp spikes, pointing outward in all directions. The fox, bounding towards his prey, sees the hedgehog defense and calls off the attack. Retreating back to the forest, the fox begins to calculate a new line of attack. Each day, some version of this battle between the hedgehog and the fox takes place, and despite the greater cunning of the fox, the hedgehog always wins.

In this chapter, Collins goes on to describe how people, and businesses, can be divided into these 2 groups as well.

People who are foxes, tend to pursue many ends at the same time, and see the world in all its complexity. Their minds are operating on several levels, and they are constantly trying to make sense of the world around them. Their problem is that they never distill their knowledge into a single, coherent, unifying vision.

Hedgehogs on the other hand, simplify a complex world into a single organizing idea, a basic principle or concept that unifies and guides everything.

There is an important distinction to be made as well between simplicity and stupidity.

In takes brilliance to reduce complex matters into simple ones.

The essence of profound insight is simplicity.

As with most things in business, these principles can also apply to our personal lives. In order to develop our own hedgehog concept, we have to identify the intersection of 3 circles:

1. What we are passionate about
2. What we can be the best in the world at
3. What drives our economic engine

Another take on this concept is Derek Sivers’s Happy, Smart, and Useful

1. What makes you happy
2. What’s smart — meaning long-term good for you
3. What’s useful to others

Note that both are slightly different, but they both center around finding the intersection between 3 very important questions.

Taken from Jim Collins’s article on the Hedgehog Concept

So I’ve been playing around with this concept in my brain for the last couple days. I’m trying to figure out what my hedgehog concept is, and how I can apply it to my life.