Are you a hedgehog or a fox?

In his famous essay "The Hedgehog and the Fox", Isaiah Berlin divided the world into hedgehogs and foxes, based upon an ancient Greek Parable: "The fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one big thing." The fox is sleek and cunning by nature and day by day plans on the many ways to pounce on the hedgehog. 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 of the trail. The hedgehog, minding his own business, wanders right into the path of the fox. The little hedgehog, sensing danger, looks up and thinks, "Here we go again. Will he never learn?" Rolling up into a perfect little ball, the hedgehog becomes a sphere of spikes, pointing outward in all directions. The fox, pouncing towards his prey, sees the hedgehog defense and calls of the attack. Retreating back towards 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 took 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.

 
 

Are you a hedgehog or a fox?

 
 

For more information, contact Stephanie Arwine, stephaniearwine@journeytosuccesscoaching.com, or log onto www.journeytosuccesscoaching.com.