Book 66 - A Year of Magical Learning

Reflection Title - I Want to Be a FoxHog!

Book: Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap... and Others Don't by Jim C. Collins

Book Description: Good to Great is a management book by Jim C. Collins that describes how companies transition from being good companies to great companies, and how most companies fail to make the transition. Collins identified several key characteristics in companies that made the leap from good to great. Level 5 Leadership: Leaders who are humble, but driven to do what's best for the company. First Who, Then What: Get the right people on the bus, then figure out where to go. Find the right people and try them out in different seats on the bus (different positions in the company). Confront the Brutal Facts: The Stockdale paradox—Confront the brutal truth of the situation, yet at the same time, never give up hope. Hedgehog Concept: Three overlapping circles: What lights your fire ("passion")? What could you be best in the world at ("best at")? What makes you money ("driving resource")? Culture of Discipline: Rinsing the cottage cheese. Technology Accelerators: Using technology to accelerate growth, within the three circles of the hedgehog concept. The Flywheel: The additive effect of many small initiatives; they act on each other like compound interest. Collins found that the main reason certain companies become great is they narrowly focus the company's resources on their field of key competence.

Reflection:

I want to live my life as a FoxHog!

What the hell is a FoxHog you ask? Let's start with the age old traditional battle between the fox and the hedgehog amongst thinkers and philosophers. The Fox and the HedgeHog is a thought experiment and an essay by the author Isiah Berlin that talks about the differences between a fox and a hedgehog and theorizes which is better. A fox knows many things, but a hedgehog knows one big thing. Berlin expands upon this idea to divide writers and thinkers into two categories: hedgehogs, who view the world through the lens of a single defining idea, and foxes, who draw on a wide variety of experiences and for whom the world cannot be boiled down to a single idea.

This thought experiment has sparked many a debates as to which is better to be, a fox or a hedgehog? Do you want to be a jack of all trades and a master of none, or know one thing really well and do it better than anyone? Jim Collins argues that it is better to be a hedgehog if you want to go from good to great like his book suggests. I've heard many different authors argue the exact opposite. In the book Range, by the author David Epstein, he wrote an entire book about why it is better to be a fox if you want to go from good to great.

So who is right? I personally think that they both are looking at it wrong. To me, life is about seeking and living a balanced existing that lives between the 2 poles. It is about being a Fox AND a Hedgehog simultaneously. Not much different than the Stockdale Paradox Jim refers to in his book where you have to be an extreme realist and an extreme optimist at the same time. Most people say to pick 1 or the other...you can't do both if you want to be great at something. You can't be both an extreme optimist and an extreme realist, you have to choose. Well, as General Stockdale would argue, being balanced is the only reason he survived the crazy trauma of the POW camp in the first place if the Stockdale Paradox is to be believed.

For me, living life at the poles is dangerous. I want to be a Fox and a Hedgehog. Maybe not the world's best of either, but at least above average and top 70-80% or something. I want to learn as much as I can in this world and still produce meaningful work. That is what makes me happy and brings joy to my life. It is about experiencing and learning as much as we can in this world and then applying that knowledge in as concentrated areas to make an impact for humanity. It is about living all of our values and expressing ourselves fully in a never ending pursuit of happiness. It is about keeping all the spinning plates going faster and faster for as long as we have the opportunity to do so in this physical world. It is about maintaining and living a balanced existence between the poles. For that, I want to be a FoxHog!

Question: Which do you want to be (Fox, Hedgehog, FoxHog, or your own unique twist)? 

---

Links:

What is The Year of Magical Learning? An Introduction

YOML Podcast Discussion - Good to Great

YOML Bookstore - Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap...and Others Don't by Jim Collins