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The Fox and the Hedgehog

So what is this ONE thing Curly is talking about in city slickers? In his famous essay "The Hedgehog and the Fox," Isaiah Berlin divided the world into hedgehogs and foxes – the fox knows many tricks, the hedgehog but one, but that is the best of all! Let me tell you the story. The fox he says is a cunning creature , able to devise a myriad of complex strategies for sneak attacks upon the hedgehog. Day in and day out, the fox circles around the hedgehog's den, waiting for the perfect moment to pounce. Fast, sleek, beautiful, fleet of foot, and crafty-the fox looks like the sure winner . The hedgehog , on the other hand, is a dowdier creature , looking like a genetic mix-up between a porcupine and a small armadillo. He waddles along, going about his simple day, searching for lunch and taking care of his home. The fox waits in cunning silence at the juncture in the trail. The hedgehog, minding his own business, wanders right into the path of the fox. "Aha, I've got you now!" thinks the fox. He leaps out, bounding across the ground, lightning fast. The little hedgehog, sensing danger, looks up and thinks, "Here we go again. Will he ever learn?" Rolling up into a perfect little ball, the hedgehog becomes a sphere of sharp spikes, pointing outward in all directions. The fox, bounding toward his prey, sees the hedgehog defence and calls off the attack. Retreating back to the forest, the fox begins to calculate a new line of attack. Each day, some version of this battle between the hedgehog and the fox takes place, and despite the greater cunning of the fox, the hedgehog always wins. Berlin extrapolated from this little parable to divide people into two basic groups: foxes and hedgehogs. Foxes pursue many ends at the same time and see the world in all its complexity. They are "scattered or diffused, moving on many levels," says Berlin, never integrating their thinking into one overall concept or unifying vision. Hedgehogs , on the other hand, simplify a complex world into a single organizing idea, a basic principle or concept that unifies and guides everything . It doesn't matter how complex the world, a hedgehog reduces all challenges and dilemmas to simple -indeed almost simplistic-hedgehog ideas. For a hedgehog, anything that does not somehow relate to the hedgehog idea holds no relevance. To be clear, hedgehogs are not stupid. Quite the contrary. They understand that the essence of profound insight is simplicity. Hedgehogs see what is essential, and ignore the rest. Do you know your personal hedgehog? And your business hedgehog? Or are you a fox, chasing many ends?