Are you a hedgehog or a fox?

The hedgehog and the fox concept is not a goal to be the best, a strategy to be the best or even an intention to become the best. It is an understanding of what you can be the best at. This is critical in creating a successful company.

I know that I’m a half decent guitar player, a better singer, an alright front man and a bad lead guitar. So, I know that my strengths lie in playing rhythm guitar and singing whilst engaging the audience every now and again. I know that if I try to play a complex solo it just ain’t going to happen. I know that I don’t have the time to learn lead guitar at this moment in my life so I play to my strength. I know what my strong points are and I force them. Likewise, I know what types of songs suit my voice. I have a rock voice so wouldn’t sound right singing an Elton John number! I know the strengths within my strengths.

Where does me singing come into play with business studies? Well, we often sit around in groups during student workgroups and work together to discover our 'hedgehogs'. Based on the work of Jim Collins in his book 'Good to Great', The Hedgehog Concept helps businesses to find out where they should be focusing their attention. Jim’s argument is that the very best companies have a simple, crystalised concept that underpins and guides everything that they do. That is their hedgehog.

Jim explains that Isaiah Berlin in an essay categorised people as hedgehogs or foxes, based upon an ancient Greek parable: ‘The fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one big thing’. There is a similar saying that a boss once said to me which was ‘don’t be a jack of all trades, be the master of one’.

So, how does this relate to creating a good or great business? Well, everything. Those who build the good-to-great companies are hedgehogs. They are focused, driven and knew their strengths and their weaknesses. Those who lead the lesser companies are foxes and never utilise the driven advantage of a hedgehog, being instead scattered, diffused, and inconsistent.

To find out if you’re a hedgehog or a fox visit jim collins website.

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