Hedgehog Principles, Fox Tactics

In his 1953 book “The Hedgehog and The Fox,” Isaiah Berlin wrestles with Archilochus (the Greek poet) who argues that πόλλ' οἶδ' ἀλώπηξ, ἀλλ' ἐχῖνος ἓν μέγα ("a fox knows many things, but a hedgehog one important thing"). Aesop echoed this lesson in his fable “The Fox and The Cat.” In reading these stories, I reflect: should a person try to know many things (aka the generalist) or just know one thing well (aka the specialist)?

Rather than choosing one or the other, I have hedgehog principles and fox tactics. I focus on one clear goal and work endlessly to achieve this in a variety of ways depending on their effectiveness. It’s like Lean Manufacturing, but I am manufacturing myself.

For instance, my goal from 2017 - 2037 is to learn in my 20s and earn in my 30s. This is my hedgehog principle. My fox tactics are to learn (and eventually earn) in any way I can. The second I stop learning, I pivot to learn more. Each of these pivots are fox tactics.

Even if your path winds, keep a sense of which direction you are moving to continue making progress. Have Hedgehog principles, but Fox tactics.

- MB

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