As we move towards Christmas, I always enjoy the space to catch up with my own professional development, do some tidying up and begin to think about the year ahead. It’s funny isn’t it how you things go to the back of your mind? I have been feeling very virtuous as I’ve been doing a major tidy of my study. In sorting out some papers, I found an article written some time ago, by Jim Collins, the author of ‘Good to Great’. This article was about the parable of the hedgehog and the Fox. I really enjoyed revisiting it. You can find the article here.
This concept originated with Isiah Berlin who wrote an essay ‘The Hedgehog and the Fox’ which was based on an ancient Greek fable; ‘The Fox know many tricks the Hedgehog knows one big thing’.
The story invites us to consider a battle between a fox and a hedgehog. The fox looks as if they would win a battle – a shiny quick creature with lots of plans and ideas. However, every time the fox gets close to the hedgehog it uses its one strategy – to curl up into a prickly ball. So every time the hedgehog wins the battle!
Isiah Berlin suggested that thee are 2 types of people:
- Foxes – have and hold many ideas and complexities
- The Hedgehog has one simple idea and everything is benchmarked against this.
Jim Collins expands the thought that this leads to three ‘circles’ and 3 questions to ask yourself:
From: Jim Collins Hedgehog Concept from Good to Great as described by Alan Philips in ‘ Age of Ideas’ found at www.theageofideas.com
As you ponder your responses to these three questions, he suggests that as you think about the intersection in the centre this will be your Hedgehog Concept:
‘When you get your Hedgehog Concept right, it has the quiet ping of truth, like a single, clear, perfectly struck note hanging in the air in the hushed silence of a full auditorium at the end of a quiet movement of a Mozart piano concerto. There is no need to say much of anything; the quiet truth speaks for itself.’ Jim Collins
As always, we all take different things from a model, but what I found really useful was to focus on what I can excel at. What gives me the ‘ping of truth’?
So I am passionate about high-quality training and consultancy What I aim to excel at is my bespoke offering to customers. Whether this is a local group in Yorkshire who I am meeting face to face or further field face to face or by zoom. Sometimes this is fairly straightforward – when someone asks for a training and we work on it together to ensure it is exactly what they want. At other times, I may be using a pre-prepared training – often written by someone else, but I take pride in the fact that I always make sure that it is delivered in the way that is best suited to the audience I’m working with.
As for my economic engine, I need to think more about this one!
This is certainly something I am thinking about as we go into 2024 – and I challenge you to do the same for your organisation. What is your hedgehog concept?
This blog comes wishing you a peaceful and prosperous 2024.
Are you a fox chasing many aims or a hedgehog with one business idea?