Is your company turning you into a fox, instead of a hedgehog?

The Hedgehog Concept is based on an ancient Greek parable that states, “The fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one big thing.” Jim Collins uses this parable in his “Good to Great” book, as one of the principles that push organisations from being good to being great.

What is the parable about?

In the parable, the fox uses many strategies to try to catch the hedgehog. It sneaks, pounces, and tries being sly, all in the attempt to catch the hedgehog. The fox may even try to play dead, but always ends up hungry and with a sore nose. The hedgehog, in contrast, knows one thing: how to defend itself. Regardless of what the fox tries, all the hedgehog needs to do is curl up into a prickly ball. That’s it, and it remains safe. This strategy is so effective that hedgehogs are pretty much exactly the same everywhere, whereas foxes vary across the world, think arctic foxes vs fennec foxes, for example.(And, yes, this has provided me with the perfect excuse to include a photo of a fennec fox.)

The hedgehog principle in your organisation

Ask the senior managers and executives of your organisation, and they will immediately agree with this principle. They would, most likely, have read the book, heard it mentioned during seminars, or learnt about it while doing their MBAs. These same executives will be able to tell you exactly what the organisation’s hedgehog principle is or – as Jim Collins puts it – what the economic engine of the organisation is. They may even tell you what their department’s hedgehog principle is.

 

How does it apply to you?

And yet, they do not apply this principle to their staff. You are expected to “move out of your comfort zone” and “expand your horizons”. You must have a “growth mind set”. One of the ways this is done, is by expecting you to manage your own project and to be a team player, by being part of someone else’s project. This is, after all, a growth opportunity.This new project will be in addition to your day-to-day duties but, if you are lucky, you may get sufficient resources to complete the project and maybe even a bonus.You may have been part of some successful projects in the past but, most likely, the majority of these projects have failed. They have either failed to deliver the desired result, cost more than originally anticipated, or took much longer than anticipated.These failures are often attributed to various external sources. Even if this were true, the majority of these projects could have been successful, if the proper project management and governance tools had been put in place.

What skills do you need to learn now?

Unless your organisation has a project management office (PMO), the answer may be “Project Management Skills”. A PMO will be able to assist you with organisational templates and in-depth knowledge. Most likely, though, you do not have a PMO. Does this mean you need to go on a project management course? You can if you want, or you can simply get a quick head start with the phase-gate project management methodology.

The Phase Gate Methodology

This approach is used internationally to responsibly govern projects. It is based on the Stage-Gate process as trademarked by Robert Cooper. It ensures that the best fit solutions are selected, and that these are planned, executed, and closed well.This approach splits a project into five phases, where each phase culminates in an output document. Before the project can go onto the next phase, it must pass through a gate, ensuring that the phase was completed effectively. This is illustrated below:Benefits of this methodology are:

• Buy-in from stakeholders
• The logical, rational, and methodical approach
• The fact that each step is clearly documented
• Projects that align to strategic goals
• Solving the actual problem
• Lowering the risk of wasting resources on unnecessary projects

I have created a set of questions for each gate. These questions will ensure that each phase of the project has been completed effectively. This should ensure a successful project. To get these sets of questions, head over the resources page, where you can download these for free.