Monday 19 March 2012

The Hedgehog Model


I came across a cute picture of two baby hedgehogs while I was studying for Marketing. The authors of the book have decided to give an example of a business with hedgehog breeding.
So because my blog is dedicated to business, I decided to google hedgehogs and see what I can find about them.

To my surprise, there exists a socio-/psychological concept called The Hedgehog concept.

Interesting. What does it mean?

It resebles the famous fable about the tortoise and the hare The hare is known to be faster, more energetic and willing to win, while the tortoise moves slowly and heavily. Surprisingly, when they compete against each other, the tortoise wins because it moves slow, but steady and reaches the final destination in a smart way, whereas the hare blinded by its skills fails.

In a similar way, the author Jim Collins distinguishes two opposite leadership models - the Fox and the Hedgehog. The Fox always comes up with new ideas and solutions, like foxes try to kill hedgehogs in different ways. So it jumps from one project to another with fast pace. The Hedgehog however knows its strength and focuses single-mindedly at what it does best and which goal appeals to it the most. Exactly like hedgehogs uses their super gun - their needles.

So if you are a Fox, new ventures are likely to appeal to you and your passion would drive you towards the next one and the next one. And if you are a Hedgehog, you'll plan strategically in advance and will most probably hit your big aims powerfully. 

Examples of what you can be good at and therefore what you should concentrate on (if you are a Hedgehog) include:

Telling your story - relating to people and selling your experience
Inspire authenticity- free talent, voice, opinion, consciousness
Your economic engine is driven by the internet - you are in internet (marketing) guru aware of all the trends online

The Foxes need to be aware that although they energy levels are highly appreciated, jumping from one Big thing to another Big thing can make them easily distracted and losing focus of the main picture.

I like those kind of comparisons that writers make. Well done, Mr Collins! And the findings are actually quite true.



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