Hedgehog Concept Quotes & Sayings

The Hedgehog Concept comes from the Greek fable about the fox and the hedgehog: while the wily fox knows many things, the simple hedgehog only knows one thing, but that one knowledge bite is highly impactful in protecting itself against danger. Discovering that simple but essential element is what created the success of the good-to-great companies. — Eighty Twenty Publishing

The way you want to respond is to ask a question: Is this technology directly relevant to our hedgehog concept? If the answer is YES, then we want to become pioneers, not in the technology, but in the application of that technology specifically linked to our hedgehog concept. — James Collins

In other words, the budget process is not about figuring out how much each activity gets, but about determining which activities best support the Hedgehog Concept and should be fully strengthened and which should be eliminated entirely. — James C. Collins

In classic hedgehog style, Walgreens took this simple concept and implemented it with fanatical consistency. — James C. Collins

If you have Level 5 leaders who get the right people on the bus, if you confront the brutal facts of reality, if you create a climate where the truth is heard, if you have a Council and work within the three circles, if you frame all decisions in the context of a crystalline Hedgehog Concept, if you act from understanding, not bravado - if you do all these things, then you are likely to be right on the big decisions. — James C. Collins

Hedgehog Concept - disciplined action, following from disciplined people who exercise disciplined thought. — James C. Collins

"Growth!" is not a Hedgehog Concept. Rather, if you have the right Hedgehog Concept and make decisions relentlessly consistent with it, you will create such momentum that your main problem will not be how to grow, but how not to grow too fast. — James C. Collins

It may seem odd to talk about something as soft and fuzzy as "passion" as an integral part of a strategic framework. But throughout the good-to-great companies, passion became a key part of the Hedgehog Concept. — James C. Collins

So my answer is, YES, everyone can find a hedgehog concept. If these companies can do it, anyone can do it. And anybody who says they can't is simply whining. — James Collins