"The fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one big thing." - Archilochus, Greek poet

A variation on the concept of Ikigai, the Hedgehog Concept is more focused on company building. It comes from Jim Collins' book "Good to Great", and is also a Venn diagram—this time focusing on three circles:

1. What you are deeply passionate about

2. What you can be the best in the world at

3. What drives your economic engine

Let's dig into each of these three areas.

What you are deeply passionate about

Identify what you truly love to do. Not just a hobby or interest, but something you are deeply passionate about and can be committed to over a long period. This is something that you would do even if you weren't paid for it.

What you can be the best in the world at

This is not actually about being the best in the world in a general sense, but rather understanding what unique skill, talent, or knowledge you have that you could potentially be the best at.

In other words, this is about finding your strongest skills and talents.

What drives your economic engine

In a personal context, this refers to what can sustainably provide for your livelihood. It's about understanding how you can generate income by doing what you are passionate about and what you can excel at. Find a market that aligns with your passion and talents.

"Doing what you are good at will only make you good; focusing solely on what you can potentially do better than any other organization is the only path to greatness." - Jim Collins, Good to Great

One major difference to note between ikigai and the Hedgehog Concept: ikigai is about finding fulfillment with how you spend your life, while the Hedgehog Concept is focused on success in business.

Also worth noting, Jim Collins is applying the concept in a fundamentally different way than Isaiah Berlin, the author who introduced the fox vs. hedgehog analogy in an essay published in 1953.

In that essay, Berlin presents the fox vs. the hedgehog as more of an example of "generalist vs. specialist", or "people interested in a breadth of topics" vs. "people who focus on one driving philosophy and relate everything back to that philosophy."

Collins, in applying this concept to business, argues that the hedgehog is superior to the fox—that focusing in one on big idea, one thing that you can specialize in, is the engine for success.