The Hedgehog Concept

Faisal Khan -

Ali Abdaal is someone I have been following since way back before he was famous and still putting out those silly videos on YouTube (his channel).

Today he has matured by leaps and bounds and is someone you want to listen to. Ali has an amazing newsletter called Sunday Snippets, which you can subscribe to here. Ali also has another newsletter called Creatorpreneur Newsletter.

If you are a creator of any sort, this latter one is one excellent newsletter to subscribe to. So why am I mentioning this?

In one of the recent newsletters (published/mentioned with permission below), they talk about The Hedgehog Concept.

I strongly urge you to read through it and ask yourself, ask others to tell you what you are passionate about. What makes you get up in the morning? What are you good at? And can that good be monetized?

I read through the Hedgehog Concept before this newsletter came out. But of late, I've been obsessed thinking about it - and as luck would have it - I've drawn down to my answers and am now putting them to work.

If you read through the concept every day for the next week or two and try to answer these questions, I am sure it can help you get more clarity in life. It did for me and others, so why not you?

From the Creatorpreneur Newsletter.

🦔 The Hedgehog Concept

“The fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one big thing” - Isaiah Berlin, The Hedgehog, and the Fox.

A fox circles a hedgehog. The fox is cunning, nimble, and crafty. The hedgehog is dowdy, slow, and unassuming. On paper, the fox is the clear winner.

Yet when the fox attacks, the hedgehog simply curls up into a ball of spikes. Despite its swift feet and sharp fangs, the fox is powerless.

The hedgehog will always win because it excels at a single skill. A single idea unifies everything it does.

This fable was popularized by Jim Collins. He suggests that, like a hedgehog, a business needs to excel at just one thing.

You can work this out for you and your business by asking these three questions:

  1. What are you deeply passionate about?
  2. What could you be the best in the world at?
  3. What drives your economic engine?

Purpose x Authenticity x Value

Let’s break these down a little.

1. What are you deeply passionate about?

This is your purpose.

  • What gets you up in the morning and keeps you working late, voluntarily?
  • What gets you excited when you’re teaching or telling someone else about it?
  • What do you feel like sharing with other people?

2. What do you do better than anyone else?

This is your authenticity.

  • What are you (or do you have the potential to be) really good at?
  • What do you wish you’d known three, five or ten years ago that could help people now? As Rory Vaden says, “you’re most powerfully positioned to serve the person you once were”
  • What industries / audiences / groups are you familiar with or part of? e.g. amateur chess players, investors, high school students, teenagers struggling with their love life, etc.
  • What would others say you’re good at?
  • In How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big, Scott Adams argues that “leveraging multiple mediocre skills” can lead to extraordinary success—especially if that combination is rare.

3. What drives your economic engine?

This is your value

  • Think about what other people will pay you for. What aspects of your creative side hustle could earn you a sustainable income?
  • Don’t use revenue as your primary motivator, but ask whether or not you could reasonably charge money for the service or value you’re providing to others.

That's the Hedgehog Concept.

Source: https://aliabdaal.com/behind-the-scenes-ali-abdaal/