When it comes to strategy, should you be a fox or a hedgehog?
There are few things I love more than a lively academic debate, especially when I have experience on both sides of the argument.
One such debate that rages in certain circles is that of the fox vs. the hedgehog. The comparison comes from a fragment of an ancient poem written by the Greek poet Archilochus.
He wrote, “the fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one big thing.”
Unfortunately, since the manuscript was incomplete, there wasn’t much in terms of context to guide readers towards the ultimate meaning of this statement.
It wasn’t until the political theorist and philosopher Isaiah Berlin came across the passage that it reentered popular discourse.
In his appropriately-named 1953 book, “The Hedgehog and the Fox,” Berlin argued that those who adhere to a single overarching idea are the proverbial hedgehogs. In contrast, foxes are people who draw on many diverse and occasionally only tangentially-connected concepts to form their opinions.
This concept was further simplified by author Jim Collins in his 2001 classic “Good To Great,” where he argues that the discipline and focus of the hedgehog mentality is key to success.
Others, such as psychologist Phil Tetlock believe that skills associated with foxes, such as comfort with nuance and contradictions, result in a superior ability to forecast the future accurately and, thus, are preferable to the skills associated with hedgehogs.
The debate struck a deeply personal chord for me since I can safely say that I’ve been both a fox and a hedgehog at different points in my career.
My experience and eventual transition from one to the other has left me with a distinctly different impression: to be a great leader, you must be both a fox and a hedgehog.
Throwing rocks
I have a confession to make. Long before becoming an entrepreneur with a focus on operations, and before I knew of the fox vs. hedgehog argument, I was what I used to refer to as a “rock thrower,” someone who took a perverse joy in criticizing the decisions of those around me.
When I was a young hotshot consultant, it was incredibly easy for me to sit on the sidelines and act as though I had all the answers.
I knew my stuff, to be sure, but I was narrow in my focus. I frequently scoffed at CEOs of the companies I worked with and laughed to myself when confronted with their supreme confidence and bluster.
In short, I was a fox. I only focused on what I believed couldn’t be done and embraced realism to such an extent that I could only see problems in the decisions people made.
Sure, I had facts, theory, and supporting data on my side, but I was boring. I could see so many potential pitfalls with any plan that inaction often seemed the most prudent path.
After I began running my own company, however, this mentality started to change.
Embracing the big idea
I felt the shift almost immediately once I became an entrepreneur. No longer sitting on the sidelines, I found myself being forced to make decisions. Suddenly, my thought process shifted from identifying why things couldn’t be done to exploring how they could be accomplished.
I had to turn into a hedgehog overnight. I had a single grand ambition: to revolutionize small business in America. It was a bold idea and one that required the steadfast optimism and can-do attitude that only an entrepreneur can muster.
I believed that my team and I could overcome any obstacle we encountered, no matter how painful. All that was required was a steadfast commitment to the goal and confidence in my team’s decisions.
This sudden shift from fox to hedgehog mentality was jarring, and soon I found myself falling into the same traps that ensnare so many would-be disruptors.
Challenges that I thought I could push through became insurmountable, and I saw myself doubling down on lackluster strategies merely because they were mine.
I slowly realized that we were on the path to failure. In an instant, all of the insecurities and second-guessing associated with the fox mentality came flooding back in, and we were ready to call it a day.
Then, a lesson from the ancient past returned and changed everything.
A lesson from the past
I’ve made no secret that I’m a fan of the humanities. I believe that contemporary business leaders can glean lessons from the stories of our history, and therefore tend to gravitate toward ancient texts rather than modern business books.
My epiphany came while reading Herodotus’ The Histories, and his depiction of Xerxes’ invasion of Greece in particular.
It’s a long and detailed story, but I’ll do my best to summarize the essential elements that led to my realization.
When the Persian King Xerxes, known as the King of Kings, decided to avenge his father’s defeat at Marathon by invading Greece, his uncle and advisor Artabanus was staunchly opposed.
Artabanus was a fox, focusing on everything that could go wrong in the campaign, and the incredible challenges involved: stretched supplies, weakened morale, and problems associated with crossing long distances.
Xerxes, on the other hand, was a hedgehog, believing so thoroughly in his godhood and the mission at hand that he could not conceive of defeat.
Ultimately, Xerxes pushed forward with the invasion, only to be hampered by both Leonidas’ group of 300 Spartan warriors at the battle of Thermopylae and eventually defeated by Themistocles and the Greeks at the naval battle of Salamis.
So Xerxes abandoned much of his army and went back home in defeat. The overconfident hedgehog was defeated. But this did not mean that Artabanus was the clear ideological winner.
Despite being right about his warnings, he was still largely forgotten by history. Sure, the Persians might not have been defeated had they heeded his advice, but they still wouldn’t have won.
The great tragedy of Xerxes and Artabanus is that they were both wrong. One was the quintessential hedgehog, while the other was a steadfast fox. Apart, both offered a path to failure. Together, however, they could have succeeded.
That’s when it dawned on me. To become a successful leader, I had to become both a fox and a hedgehog.
A First-rate intelligence
It was F. Scott Fitzgerald once said, “The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind at the same time, and still retain the ability to function.”
The fox vs. hedgehog debate is pointless. Instead, leaders must strive to embody the best of both philosophies and hold the opposing ideas in mind at the same time.
This combined philosophy saved the company. I was able to change my perspective and strike a delicate balance between unrelenting optimism and the nuanced approach that I perfected in my earlier career.
This shift ultimately helped me to say no to specific opportunities and strategies while still possessing the ability to make big, bold bets.
It may seem like a subtle shift, but it enabled me to abandon underperforming business lines, pivot to more profitable lines of business, and ultimately survive to the point of a successful exit.
So, to answer the question posed in this headline, no, you don’t have to choose between being a fox or a hedgehog. The key to success is to embody the best of both.
