Good to Great Leadership Blog 2
What?
If you had to choose to be a fox or a hedgehog which one would you choose? Some people may choose to be a fox rather than a hedgehog, but some may choose to be a fox instead. For the hedgehog concept it is very important to choose the right one. The fox and the hedgehog play two different important roles in the hedgehog concept. The idea of the hedgehog concept is based on an ancient greek parable “The fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one big thing”(Collins, 2001, pg. 90). In a competition between a hedgehog and a fox some people would think that the fox would win, on the other hand the hedgehog wins. The fox never learns that the hedgehog knows how to do one big thing perfectly which is defend itself.
So What?
The fox and the hedgehog have two varying mindsets. The fox uses many strategies and thinks about several things at once compared to the hedgehog who thinks about only one thing at a time and has a better chance at achieving its goal. For companies to go from good to great, leaders have to find their inner hedgehog. It was said that organizations are more likely to succeed if they discover their hedgehog concept which is what they do best at (Collins, 2001). When the company has discovered the one thing that is almost guaranteed to drive their success, the leaders for that company put all their time into accomplishing the goals. The hedgehog concept consist of three overlapping circles that display three different important ideas. The first circle is what you can be the best in the world at? The second circle is what drives your economic engine? The third circle is what are you deeply passionate about? These three ideas makeup the hedgehog concept which is used to help identify the understanding of what you can be the best at and where you stand. The important idea is that some companies and people want to be the best at something, but that’s not always possible. It’s important to understand what you can be the best at, but also what you can’t be the best at. The hedgehog concept is supposed to be used to let your full potential shine through.
Now what?
The hedgehog concept can be used for all organizations, companies, and individuals trying to seek greatness. Anybody can use the hedgehog concept when trying to accomplish goals and growing. Once somebody finds the center of the three circles of the hedgehog concept they can then create their steps around that one idea to achieve their goal. I never knew about the hedgehog concept until I read the chapters for this weeks material. I believe that I can work towards being like the hedgehog and taking it one step at a time by focusing on one certain thing. By doing this I should then be able to find my hedgehog concept and use it to help me accomplish my goals in my future.
References
About the Author: Mithun Sridharan I am Mithun Sridharan, & Sridharan, I. (2020, April 18). The Hedgehog Concept: Fight distractions and sharpen focus. Retrieved September 28, 2020, from https://thinkinsights.net/strategy/hedgehog-concept-to-fight-distractions-and-sharpen-focus/
Ambekar, A. (2018, June 03). Book Summary: Good to Great by Jim Collins. Retrieved September 28, 2020, from https://medium.com/@aniket.ambekar/book-summary-good-to-great-by-jim-collins-e29f5c90c327
Collins, J. (2001). Good to great: Why some companies make the leap … and others don’t (1st ed.). New York, NY: HarperBusiness.
Guberman, A., Says, J., Jak, Says, A., & Ashley. (2016, March 08). A Personal Hedgehog Concept. Retrieved September 28, 2020, from https://primarygoals.com/personal-hedgehog-concept/
ALCE 3304 