“The Hedgehog and the Fox” is an essay that talks about Tolstoy’s view of history based on a line by Greek poet, Archilochus, which says:
“The fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one big thing,”
Jim Collins, in his seminal book, “Good to Great,” developed “The Hedgehog Concept” based on this essay. In his book, he found that good-to-great organizations have a hedgehog. They identify this hedgehog by institutionalizing the intersection of three circles of strategy:
What are you deeply passionate about?
What you can be the best in the world at?
What drives your economic engine?
Let’s correlate Collins’ concept for companies and organizations to our ‘personal hedgehog.’ Let’s start by asking the same questions to ourselves—What am I deeply passionate about? —What can I be the best in the world at? – What drives my economic engine?
What am I deeply passionate about?
To be clear, I’m not saying to truly find what you’re passionate about before even moving forward. In IMHO #10, I talked about not finding your passion. Instead, start making your passion. Find something that is not inherently difficult for you. Find something that makes sense—something that fits your background, experiences, and personality.
Though I can use my experiences in the past 20+ years to run healthcare teams and organizations, the healthcare industry has never been within my range of interests. I call that range of interests, “The Spectrum of Passion.” Within the ‘spectrum,’ you’ll find a medley of different industries, specializations, disciplines, and practices.
Don’t be surprised to see me as part of financial, technology, marketing, entertainment, music, and consumer goods industry. Be afraid—be very afraid—if you see me in hospitals, clinics, and even law offices. Sure, there are leadership traits and competencies that can be used across all industries, but it has to be an area you can relate yourself with.
Once you’ve ‘found your place,’ it’s now time to look at your relevant strengths and competencies that you can call your personal hedgehog. You may have wicked cowbell skills, but that doesn’t have anything to do with running a marketing team or making sure that your IT team is within its SLAs.
What can I be the best in the world at?
Please don’t take this at your literal sense. Yes, Jim Collins urge global brands and organizations to find that ‘thing’ that no other company can offer. But in the sense of personal hedgehogs, the ‘world’ can be scaled down to be in your industry, in your company, or even yet, within the basic unit of your team.
The point here is to find a durable and sustainable advantage that separates you from the pack. It’s usually the type of game you can’t lose in. Develop your unique skill. Unique on how you practice and deliver the skill. Public speaking is not a unique skill. There is a National Speakers Bureau filled with world-class public speakers. Public speaking can be your unique skill relative to your organization and to your team.
“Find a durable and sustainable advantage that separates you from the pack.”
If you’re a skilled public speaker—be the face of your team to organization. If you’re a skilled in design and in creating presentations—be the go-to in creating executive-level presentations. If you’re skilled in judging character or in interviewing—be at the forefront in finding the best talents to fill key roles in your organization.
What drives my economic engine?
We’re all familiar with the expression, “Don’t quit your day job.” Usually said when someone starts singing or starts dancing. If you’re going to focus much of your energy and effort to master a skill, make sure you get something out of it. The only sustainable path to harnessing a hedgehog is by ensuring that it’s something that will generate income or strengthen your credibility that could lead to career advancement.
If you’re a good speaker, create products that can generate income. Start a podcast or try to get hired as a paid speaker. Many professionals consider public speaking ‘worse than death itself.’ Be that one person in your organization who’s willing and is competent in delivering a speech or a presentation. That will definitely set you apart from the competition, when it’s time to appoint the next senior leader in your company.
Your personal hedgehog
To find your personal hedgehog, find what you can be passionate about, what you can be exceptionally good at, and what can advance your career or generate income. It’s that simple. The hard part is identifying and constantly pursuing excellence on that skill or attribute. Remember—it has to be an advantage that’s durable and sustainable—something that separates you from the rest.
Crowdsourcing FTW
Have you tried identifying your personal hedgehog? How hard was it to master that skill? Can you share some hedgehogs that’s more evergreen across different industries?