Are you striving to be the best? Are you trying to achieve greatness? Then find your hedgehog and get to work. Jim Collins, author of the bestseller Good to Great, details his theory of finding our hedgehog. A hedgehog concept is not a goal to be the best, it is an understanding of what you can be best at.
The hedgehog principle is illustrated by the story of the hedgehog verses the fox. The fox is a smart animal and will spend its day coming up with many ways to try and catch the hedgehog.
Then with plan in hand the fox goes to the place he knows the hedgehog will be to spring his trap. Meanwhile lumbering down the trail the hedgehog spots the fox coming and does the only thing she knows how to do, roll up into a ball and extend her spikes.
The fox zigs and zags, schemes and plans, but at the end of the day to no avail. He just can’t penetrate the hedgehog’s defense. The hedgehog wins again.
Everyday the fox comes up with a new way to catch the hedgehog and everyday is thwarted by the same defensive move of the hedgehog – rolling up into a ball and extending her spikes.
In business we sometimes find ourselves acting like the fox. Scheming, planning, and coming up with 1,000 things we can do. Unfortunately by doing so we sometimes divert our attention away from what will best move our business forward. Or in other words our Hedgehog.
There are 3 simple questions that you can ask in order to find out what your hedgehog is:
What do I do best?
What do I love to do?
What do I make money doing?
The Three Circles
Collins then goes on to explain that businesses should try and stay within their hedgehog as they go about their daily business and exploring new opportunities.
For example if you are a voice teacher passionate about teaching students the latest vocal techniques you would probably not want to start up a hamburger stand. On the other hand if a new technology was introduced which would make it easier for you to reach new students it would be worth investing your time and energy into learning that technology.
He also explains that we don’t have to be a “subject” hedgehog, we could be a “process” hedgehog. Using Sears as an example he shows how yes they are all over the place with services and products, however they are the best in the world at training very successful managers which in turn moves their business forward.
The bottom line or moral of this story is that as you are thinking about how to stimulate your business remain within your hedgehog. Avoid temptations to move outside your hedgehog and get caught up in something that won’t pay dividends.
Check out more principals of Good to Great at JimCollins.com.
This post was written by Dane Trimble, Advertising Manager for Classical Singer & Auditions Plus. Dane is also the creator of the popular card game “Diva: The Opera Card Game”.
