Intersections

I just received an email from Remo. Seeing images of the 'Printed thing' he and his team are working on reminded me how interesting Remo Guiffre is. I had seen an article in the excellent, if strange, Australian magazine DumboFeather Pass It On but had neglected to read it. So I looked it up on the web and found the short version. It featured this illustration:

Looking at it I had a strange feeling of having seen it before. Then I remembered seeing a Fast Company magazine video featuring an interview with Jim Collins, the author of Good to Great (Amazon), one of the classic business books of the 90's. So I scooted over to Jim Collins site (which is outstanding by the way - or should I say 'great'?). A little probing around and there it was: The Hedgehog Concept - how to develop an understanding of what you can be the great at doing

The essential strategic difference between the good-to-great and comparison companies lay in two fundamental distinctions. First, the good-to-great companies founded their strategies on deep understanding along three key dimensions—what we came to call the three circles. Second, the good-to-great companies translated that understanding into a simple, crystalline concept that guided all their efforts—hence the term Hedgehog Concept.

More precisely, a Hedgehog Concept is a simple, crystalline concept that flows from deep understanding about the intersection of the following three circles:

1. What you can be the best in the world at (and, equally important, what you cannot be the best in the world at). This discerning standard goes far beyond core competence. Just because you possess a core competence doesn’t necessarily mean you can be the best in the world at it. Conversely, what you can be the best at might not even be something in which you are currently engaged.

2. What drives your economic engine. All the good-to-great companies attained piercing insight into how to most effectively generate sustained and robust cash flow and profitability. In particular, they discovered the single denominator—profit per x—that had the greatest impact on their economics. (It would be cash flow per x in the social sector.)

3. What you are deeply passionate about. The good-to-great companies focused on those activities that ignited their passion. The idea here is not to stimulate passion but to discover what makes you passionate.

My point isn't that the diagrams are the same - they are - but that how a few random connections can lead to something I noted as significant - an idea - but had forgotten. I have been preparing to settle down to plan the next couple of years and the Hedgehog idea couldn't have come back at a better time.



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