Good to Great

Collins opens this chapter with a question: “Are you a hedgehog or a fox?” (90). He elaborates on the relevance of this question by explaining the symbolic difference between a hedgehog and a fox; the former is a simple, unassuming animal with the ability to “simplify a complex world into a single organizing idea” (91), while the latter is a crafty, sleek animal that pursues solutions in a complex, disjointed manner. Good-to-great companies are hedgehogs.

Collins defines the “Hedgehog Concept” as the ability to focus on a “simple, crystalline concept that guide[s] all [a company’s] efforts” (95). This flows from a profound understanding of three intersecting circles: (1) what you can be best in the world at, (2) what you are deeply passionate about, and (3) what drives your economic engine. Collins clarifies that the Hedgehog Concept is “not a goal, strategy, or intention; it is an understanding” (119).

As Collins details the findings relative to the Hedgehog Concept, he emphasizes the importance of understanding the “best in the world” as the highest possible standard for a company. More than simply being competent at many different things, a good-to-great company focuses intensely on what it can do better than anyone else.