If you were around 2,500 years ago (sometimes I feel like I have been), you might have met Archilochus, the Greek warrior poet, and “friended” him on some stone tablet.
I bring him up because something he wrote centuries ago applies to us today…or at least I think it does because I don’t actually know ancient Greek. I’m taking this on faith and what I’ve learned from the Internet.
“The fox knows many things,” said Archilochus, “but the hedgehog knows one big thing.”
Are you the fox, or are you the hedgehog?
Hedgehogs have a big ideological vision. They are animated by something singular. Their vision is singular, and their forecasts are informed largely by that vision. They view the world through one, defining lens. People like Plato, most politicians, TV commentators and economic forecasters fit this profile.
Foxes are more eclectic in their thinking style. They pick and choose their ideas from a variety of schools of thought. They are a little bit of this and a little bit of that. They also make better forecasters as they approach an idea, the future, revenue forecasting, and the like.
When you are revenue modeling (remember our conversation last week?), you want to be a fox. Your mind is more open to everything around you.
When you want to make some news, stir things up, tell an engaging story, become a hedgehog. If you’re looking for some role models, check out the evening news. Hedgehogs make better television. Foxes makes better forecasters.
So the question isn’t which are you, but how good can you get at switching between the two as the situation requires?