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Hedgehog Concept

Hedgehog Concept. “The fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one big thing The hedgehog sees what is essential, and ignores the rest You want to know what separates those who make the biggest impact from all the others who are just as smart. Walgreens Vs. Eckerd.

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Hedgehog Concept

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  1. Hedgehog Concept • “The fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one big thing • The hedgehog sees what is essential, and ignores the rest • You want to know what separates those who make the biggest impact from all the others who are just as smart

  2. Walgreens Vs. Eckerd • Cork Walgreen the CEO had a simple concept, the most convenient drugstores, with high profit per customer visit • Store by store, block by block, city by city, region by region. Walgreens became more and more of a hedgehog with this incredibly simple idea

  3. The Three Circles • What you can be the Best in the World at? • What drives your Economic Engine? • What you are deeply Passionate about?

  4. Understanding what you can (and Cannot) be the best at • " They stick with what they understand and let their abilities, not their egos, determine what they attempt."

  5. Wells Fargo • “What can we do better than any other company, and what can we not do better than any other company, and if we cannot be the best then why are we doing it ”

  6. Abbott v Upjohn In 1964 they were identical in: • Revenues • Profits • Product Lines

  7. Knowing when to Change Directions • Merck vs. Upjohn- Upjohn tries to out muscle Merck because they believe that their core competency is worth competing on Or • Abbot vs. no one – Abbot knows that they are better

  8. Creating Blue Oceans by cutting your Losses • Established 1886 with playing card games • Moved to cab services, network TV, and food production • Started designing products to accommodate the arcade boom • Developed Donkey Kong • Started a revolution

  9. What drives your Economic Engine • The notion of a single Economic Denominator • Question is… • If you could pick one and only one ratio - profit per X to systematically increase over time, what X would have the greatest and most sustainable impact on your economic engine?

  10. Zoom Zoom • The denominator question serves as a mechanism to force deeper understanding of the key drivers in your economic engine • Have a denominator not for the sake of just having one, but for the sake of gaining insight that ultimately leads to more robust and sustainable economics

  11. Circuit City – Per geographic region • Fannie Mae – Per mortgage risk level • Gillette – Per Customer • Kroger – Per local Population • Nucor – Per ton of finished steel • Philip Morris – Per global brand category • Pitney Bowes – Per customer • Walgreens – Profit per visit • Wells Fargo – Per employee

  12. Understanding your passion • Phillip Morris understood passion • Phillip Morris’ success was mainly dependent on the fact that it’s employees were hugely passionate about what they did. • Ross Millhiser, former vice chairman • “I love cigarettes, it’s one of the things that makes life really worth living.” • Needless to say, he’s dead,…but he had passion while he was alive, and that inspired those around him to be the best at what they were doing which in turn, became a core competence that made Phillip Morris become a Great company

  13. Passion is Nature, not Nurture • The good-to great companies didn’t say, “okay, folks, lets get passionate about what we do.” They went the other way entirely. • “We should only do those things that we can get passionate about.” • Ex. Republic airlines Genius Right? Not Really

  14. Diversifying for Passion • Asdfasdfasdfanew the market for disposable razors was a red ocean, so it diversified to fit a new mold where consumers saw Gillette as a company keen on engineering and technology. It’s hedgehog strategy was to become the leader in innovative and sophisticated shaving systems. • Gillette’s was noted in an article for the Wall Street Journal for the quote “people who aren't passionate need not apply,” describing a situation where a top graduate student wasn’t hired due to her lack of passion for deodorant.

  15. Triumph of Understanding Over Bravado • Charismatic leaders of good companies were to often relying on Bravado, not understanding in an attempt to sort through the fog. They never made it into daylight because they were asking the wrong questions. • Growth need not be an obsession, it will come with an appropriate hedgehog strategy.

  16. Fannie Mae and Great Western

  17. The Council: Asking the right Questions • Good to Great companies asked these questions when defining their hedgehog concept • Do we really understand what we can be the best in the world at? • Do we really understand the drivers in our economic engine? • Do we really understand what best ignites our passion?

  18. The Council • The first step in defining a hedgehog concept is to put the right people in place to engage in dialogue guided by the three circles. • Characteristics of the council • Different backgrounds = different POV • Immune to groupthink – consensus views are at odds with intelligent decisions. • Arguments based on need for positive conclusion, not an egoistic need to win.

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