Podcasts about hedgehog concept

I'm taking you behind the scenes of ProductLed's wild 8-year ride. From our embarrassing original name (“Traffic is Currency” - yikes) to helping 400+ companies generate $1B in self-serve revenue, it's been anything but linear. I share the honest truth about riding the pandemic capital wave, the year I was completely lost, and how accidentally discovering our implementation program changed everything. Key Takeaways: [00:01:55] My first client took a chance on me [00:05:03] I was making $33K/month but was miserable [00:09:44] Writing my book in a 6-month sprint [00:13:23] How COVID forced us to pivot from workshops to cohorts [00:20:07] The accidental discovery that transformed our business model Looking back, my journey followed exactly what Jim Collins calls the “Hedgehog Concept” - first finding what makes money, then following my energy to PLG, and finally creating a unique system that could become world-class. The intersection of these three elements is where unstoppable businesses are built.

In this episode, John, Jason, and One Percenter Michael Oliver delve into the Hedgehog Concept, a business strategy derived from Jim Collins' book 'Good to Great.' They explore the importance of aligning passion, expertise, and economic viability in business. Michael shares personal reflections on his career journey, evaluating his past roles through the lens of the Hedgehog Concept. The conversation highlights the importance of passion in driving business success and the ability to pivot roles within a business to enhance fulfillment and effectiveness. The guys discuss the role of self-reflection in identifying one's strengths and passions, and how this can drive business success, through the lens of the hedgehog concept. The conversation ultimately defines what a hedgehog-friendly ambitious lifestyle business looks like, focusing on time freedom and strategic management. The Ambitious Lifestyle Business podcast is available wherever you get your podcasts...

In this episode of Workflows & Espressos, host Meaghan Myers shares key takeaways from her favorite business and leadership books. She discusses 'Good to Great' by Jim Collins, 'Ride of a Lifetime' by Bob Iger, 'Positive Intelligence' by Shirzad Chamine, 'Dare to Lead' by Brené Brown, and 'Delivering Happiness' by Tony Hsieh. Megan highlights important concepts such as Level 5 Leadership, the Hedgehog Concept, and company culture. Whether you're a leader or part of a team, these insights are crucial for driving success. Join Meaghan as she delves into these books and offers her personal reflections and experiences! Links: Apple Podcasts - Link Spotify - Link Hospitality.FM - Link Connect with Meaghan | Ask Meaghan — Workflows & Espressos is part of the Hospitality.FM podcast network and a Hospitality.FM Original. If you like this podcast, then you'll also love our other podcasts directly on Hospitality.FM! Thank you to all of the Hospitality.FM Partners that help make this show possible, and if you like this show, please leave us a review and share it on your network!

In this episode, you'll discover:Discover the clear difference between an opportunity and an appointment.Why actively creating margin in your life is critical for success.How the Hedgehog Concept becomes even more essential as you grow.Your role as a leader: Marshaling your team's four limited resources through all seasons of your career.Episode Highlights00:47 - Learn how to distinguish between opportunities and appointments, ensuring you focus on what aligns with your long-term purpose​.03:03 - Understand why success comes from alignment between vision, values, and behaviors to guide your decisions​.05:32 - Discover how saying no to distractions strengthens your ability to say yes to the right opportunities​.08:26 - Explore why decision-making requires discipline and how to prioritize wisely​.10:48 - Learn how resisting distractions helps you stay focused on high-return investments and opportunities​.12:08 - Understand the power of divine appointments and how aligning with purpose creates greater fulfillment​.15:15 - Gain insight into resource allocation—time, energy, focus, and money—and how they shift through business growth phases​.18:07 - Discover why clarity in priorities prevents decision fatigue and ensures efficiency in leadership​.19:56 - Learn why being disciplined with investments leads to better financial and business outcomes​.21:18 - Hear why focusing on what you can be the best at ensures long-term success and scalability​22:52 - Dr. Eric DiMartino welcomes Dr. Andrew White to discuss an innovative approach to corporate wellness. Inspired by personal experiences, Dr. White shares how his company integrates chiropractic care into businesses using tax advantages. Learn how chiropractors can secure corporate contracts and leverage tax incentives at no extra cost. With a vision for nationwide expansion, this model offers businesses an effective way to support employee health. Don't miss this game-changing insight into the future of chiropractic care. Resources MentionedTo learn more about the Remarkable CEO Program, please visit:  http://www.theremarkablepractice.com/rem-ceoFor more information about Align & Co please visit:  https://www.alignco.life/ Schedule a Brainstorming call with Dr. PeteFollow Dr Stephen on Instagram: https://qr.me-qr.com/l/riDHVjqt  Follow Dr Pete on Instagram: https://qr.me-qr.com/I1nC7Hgg  Prefer to watch? Catch the podcast on YouTube at: https://www.youtube.com/@TheRemarkablePractice1To listen to more episodes visit https://theremarkablepractice.com/podcast/ or follow on your favorite podcast app.

What if there was ONE THING—okay, maybe a few things—that could completely transform your studio business?In this episode of Your Studio Podcast, Chantelle and Michelle kick off the year by diving into the single most powerful shift every studio owner needs to make (with some bonus wisdom sprinkled in).In answering the question from studio owner, April, who is looking for the "one thing all studio owners should know", you'll uncover:✨ The game-changing Hedgehog Concept and how aligning your passion, expertise, and financial goals creates magic for your business.✨ Why batching tasks isn't just for social media but a secret weapon for running your studio with ease.✨ How to step into your role as a leader—even when it means making tough calls like teaching fewer classes.This episode is your permission slip to think bigger, take bold action, and set your studio on a path to sustainable success. You'll leave feeling inspired, clear, and ready to celebrate your own wins (and maybe a few well-earned dance breaks).Tune in for the insights, stay for the laughs—and don't forget to hit subscribe so you never miss a moment!P.S. If you're looking to start your year off right by actually planning for your studio's growth in 2025, check out our Studio Planathon here: studioevolution.com/planP.P.S. Don't be one of our Grads that says "we wish we had done it sooner" - take action now and Apply for Studio Evolution at studioevolution.com/applyGot a studio niggle right now? Leave us a voicemail, and we can help Solve Your Studio in one of our episodes. Chat to us here: https://www.speakpipe.com/LeaveEvolutionAVoicemailBe sure to follow us for more content perfect for Studio Owners!Instagram: @thestudioevolution YouTube: @thestudioevolutionFacebook: @TheStudioEvolutionWebsite: studioevolution.com/startALL our best!

Ep 10. From the best-selling book Good To Great (Jim Collins), Lachy unpacks the Hedgehog Concept

In this powerful episode of PxP, we're diving deep into the heart of a universal truth - the importance of seizing the moment. Life has a way of flying by, and sometimes, we don't realize it until it's too late. Join me, Jayme Yarroch, as we reflect on the passing of time and how it seems to speed up as we get older. We'll share personal insights and stories about how, in our youth, we lived for the moment, seizing every opportunity that came our way. But somewhere along the journey, we started worrying about tomorrow, and the next day, and the one after that. We became experts at making excuses for not living fully in the present. In this episode, we make a heartfelt plea to change this narrative. We discuss why it's crucial to live for today, to embrace opportunities when they arise, and to make the most of every single moment. Life is too short to be caught up in endless worries and procrastination. As a bonus, I'll share some exciting updates from my life, including my new role as Grandpa and a thrilling diving event at Auburn University that I had the privilege to announce. So, grab your favorite beverage, find a cozy spot, and let's have a direct, inspirational, and heart-to-heart conversation about why it's time to seize the moment. Jim Collins, Good to Great - https://www.jimcollins.com/books.html Kyle Kowalski, What is the Hedgehog Concept by Jim Collins? - https://www.sloww.co/hedgehog-concept-jim-collins/ Listen now and make every second count!

EPISODE 311: How can you make your business resilient in the face of challenges? Forget the traditional definition of a recession as a financial crisis–it goes beyond that. When I say recession, it could be when your star employee jumps ship to a  competitor. It could also mean something happens to you, and your business can't run without you. As a CEO, what's your game plan when those happen? In this episode, I'll be sharing ten (10) foolproof strategies to recession-proof your business so it can weather any storm that comes its way. I'll be sharing some practical and actionable steps you can implement as early as possible, highlighting some of the great resources we have at your disposal so you'll be better equipped with the knowledge to run your construction business through any rough waters. Ready to recession-proof your business? Let's dive right in!   Key Takeaways: Introduction (00:00) The many faces of recession (02:25) Drive your cash flow (04:24) Focus on maximizing your bottom line (06:24) Make your team more agile and efficient (11:39) Monitor your trade partners in your supply chain (17:27) Establish a go/no-go date on all of your projects (24:05) Upsell to current and past clients (28:43) Focus on your core competencies (30:51) Jim Collin's The Hedgehog Concept explained (32:10) Lead your team well (33:34) Operate as the CEO (37:26) Leverage the 80-20 principle (40:44) Quick recap (42:14) Great resources for you to check out (43:22)   Additional Resources: - Watch the replay on How to Recession Proof Your Business HERE - FREE training on how to get out of your business and make it run without you HERE - Hear our clients' success stories HERE  - Schedule your business evaluation call with our team HERE -- The Construction Leading Edge Podcast helps construction business owners maximize their revenue, eliminate chaos, systematize their work, and win back their time. Follow us on your favorite podcasting platform so you never miss an episode!  

Join host Matt Lupi on this insightful episode of the Define Success Podcast as we delve into the powerful concept that can reshape your life—The Hedgehog Concept. Discover the keys to unlocking your true purpose and achieving lasting success. The Hedgehog Concept is a business strategy framework introduced by Jim Collins in his book "Good to Great." Collins and his research team studied a set of companies that made the leap from being good companies to truly great ones. They found that these great companies shared common characteristics, and one of them was what Collins called the Hedgehog Concept. The Hedgehog Concept is based on the idea of a hedgehog, which, when threatened by predators, has one very effective response: it rolls itself into a tight, spiky ball. In the context of business strategy, the Hedgehog Concept represents the intersection of three circles: Passion: What you are deeply passionate about. Best at: What you can be the best in the world at. Economic Engine: What drives your economic or resource engine. The idea is to find the overlap of these three circles, focusing on activities or pursuits that align with all three aspects. According to Collins, great companies focus on doing a few things exceptionally well rather than trying to be everything to everyone. By concentrating on what they are truly passionate about, excel at, and drives their economic engine, companies can achieve long-term success and greatness. The Hedgehog Concept encourages organizations to identify their core strengths and stick to them, avoiding the temptation to spread resources and efforts thin across unrelated areas. It's a framework that promotes clarity and simplicity in strategic decision-making.   In this episode, Matt Lupi explores the wisdom of the Hedgehog Concept, a transformative business strategy introduced by Jim Collins. But it's not just for corporations; it's a roadmap for individuals seeking clarity in their life's journey. Uncover the three crucial elements—passion, mastery, and economic drive—that converge to reveal your unique life purpose. Matt dives into real-life stories and practical tips on how the Hedgehog Concept can guide you towards a fulfilling and purpose-driven life. Learn how to identify what truly ignites your passion, understand where your skills shine the brightest, and align your pursuits with what fuels your personal and professional growth. If you're ready to redefine success on your terms, this episode is a must-listen. Tune in as Matt Lupi explores the Hedgehog Concept, offering actionable insights that will empower you to find your purpose and live a life that truly matters.

In his book, "Good to Great", Jim Collins shares 6 big ideas that great companies have in common.The unifying theme of the companies in his book is that they didn't start out great, but became great when they acted on these big ideas.One of the biggest is the "hedgehog concept", which is a strategy of focusing hard on the thing you can do better than anyone else, and repeating it over and over.Connect with Chris Cooper:Website - https://businessisgood.com/

The Hedgehog Concept, introduced in the book "Good to Great" by Jim Collins, is a guiding principle that helps individuals and organizations focus on their core strengths and passions to achieve long-term success.

#38: In this episode, Cam dives into the extraordinary life of Craig Stanghetta, a visionary entrepreneur raised in the breathtaking landscapes of Sault Ste. Marie. From experiencing the city's rich Italian culture to finding his passion in the arts community, Craig's upbringing played a pivotal role in creating some of the world's most beautiful places, such as Kissa Tanto, St. Lawrence, Ask For Luigi, Jaybird, and Gilmore Place. Discover how Craig weaves unique narratives into his ventures, the essence of Ste Marie's success, and why embracing fear is key to achieving greatness. We also explore his approach to business development, navigating challenges during COVID, and his unique philosophy of incorporating all aspects of life into his ventures.• 00:00:13 Start Time• 00:04:02 Small talk growing up in Kelowna Cam• 00:04:25 Growing up in Sault Ste. Marie• 00:06:44 Growing up in Sault Ste. Marie and how it's translated to creating the most beautiful places in the world• 00:07:45 Experiencing the rich Italian culture in Sault Ste. Marie• 00:09:28 Sports available in the city• 00:09:47 Getting into the small arts community within the city• 00:11:11 Friend group from the Sault Ste. Marie• 00:12:30 Kelowna culture vs Sault Ste. Marie when growing up• 00:14:27 Picking up where you left off with old friends• 00:15:23 Being a late bloom can help you reinvent yourself• 00:15:41 Idiocracy• 00:16:41 Coming to Vancouver• 00:17:57 Early on, career crisis within his acting career• 00:19:22 How Vancouver gave him the guts to open a new business• 00:20:32 First design gig in Vancouver• 00:20:46 Chambar to loft creations to Bao Bai, Meat & Bread, Ask for Luigi• 00:26:19 Building off of a lens of the narrative, the story, and the dream• 00:26:42 How do you decide on a story• 00:28:41 Building memories into a restaurant, with the example of Pepinos• 00:32:51 Savior Volpe, pepinos, Etc.• 00:34:12 Working with Earls by unchaining the chain• 00:35:06 Unstilling a brands persona• 00:36:44 Working in the States, Laurel• 00:37:33 Started in restaurants and now quite active in the real estate and hospitality space• 00:38:50 Connecting with people is needed more now than ever before• 00:41:25 Boring blows• 00:42:07 Don't bend the narrative. Get down to what you can actualize• 00:43:30 The Hedgehog Concept• 00:44:50 The good, the bad, and finding an equal measure• 00:45:45 Where most restaurants fail• 00:47:24 Being distilled and purposeful in all that you do• 00:47:55 Ste Marie focuses on the inside out• 00:50:38 Ste Marie staff and offices• 00:52:36 The reason why Ste Marie has been so successful in scaling up• 00:54:30 Why you should focus on your superpower vs working on your weaknesses• 00:55:29 Why having fear within a first business move is the key to success• 00:57:56 Business Development• 00:59:28 Working with businesses in COVID• 01:00:09 Focusing on the brand and gaining inbound leads• 01:00:24 Ste Maries differentiators• 01:01:58 Engineering livability and experiences within rental and retail• 01:04:51 Toronto projects• 01:06:53 Why Toronto?• 01:09:50 Toronto talent pool• 01:10:33 Hiring abroad• 01:11:28 Workplace structure• 01:15:43 191 Alexander opportunities• 01:19:12 Incorporating all aspects of life into one• 01:22:46 End Time

How to transform your business from good to great...Want to partner with me to supercharge your business? Apply at https://www.pinedapartners.com/Are you living The Wealthy Way? Take my free quiz with the link below and get FREE access to my course the “Wealth Builder Academy” where I go over all the fundamentals of building wealth in all areas of life.https://www.wealthyway.com/______________________________________________________Here's how my businesses can help you:Want to be coached by me on real estate investing? Apply at https://wealthyway.co/jmiLooking to grow in your faith and business? Join the premiere community for Christian entrepreneurs and business people. Develop your leadership, discipleship, and your faith at https://wealthyway.co/dyyAre you an entrepreneur who wants to build their personal brand on social media? Go to https://wealthyway.co/rj9Want to utilize a full service social media agency? At Pineda Media, we film, edit, post, and personally coach you to create top level content and build your personal brand. Apply now! https://www.pinedamedia.com/Create your business to grow your revenue, scale your organization, and make an impact with help from Wealthy Business! Book a call here https://wealthyway.co/50dYou can invest in my real estate deals! Go to https://pinedacapital.comNeed tax and accounting help? Contact my CPA Firm! https://TrueBooksCPA.com/______________________________________________________My other social media channels:Subscribe to my real estate only channel "Wealthy Investor" https://www.youtube.com/c/futureflipper1Follow me on Social Media: https://www.instagram.com/ryanpinedahttps://www.tiktok.com/@ryanpinedahttps://www.twitter.com/ryanpineda______________________________________________________Money, talent, and purpose. These three aspects drive businesses above and beyond. If you can find a business or job that fits all three categories, you will be successful. 

Get access to the full article: ⁠click here The House of Cards: Silicon Valley is a hub of innovation and entrepreneurship, and it has been the driving force behind many of the technological advances we have seen in recent years. The area is home to some of the world's most successful technology companies, and these companies have set the standard for how businesses in the industry operate. However, with new challenges emerging and technology evolving at an unprecedented pace, it is worth examining the current state of affairs in Silicon Valley, particularly in relation to the plans, decisions, and strategies of technology companies. This story explores the current state of affairs in Silicon Valley, focusing on these companies: META, Apple, and Google. Using the principles of the Hedgehog Concept and a Culture of Discipline from Jim Collins' book, Good to Great, the dichotomy arguments surrounding these companies is explored in-depth.

Join Jodi as we sit down with Katie Clinebell, Director of Client Services and Operations with Equine Network, and chat all things equine industry careers! Let's discuss the ‘Hedgehog Concept' and why culture starts with YOU. I am so excited to help YOU thrive! So get the ponies fed, fill those water buckets, grab your journal and let's grow girl! I'm going to help YOU Live Inspired, Fulfilled and Empowered!    Cheers! Jodi    Want to connect with Jodi?! www.JodiSpeaksLIFE.com www.LinkedIn.com/in/JodiLynchFindley www.facebook.com/JodiSpeaksLIFE www.instagram.com/JodiSpeaksLIFE info@JodiSpeaksLIFE.com

Welcome to a special episode of HeroTalk (the mostly weekly from Rooter Hero Plumbing & Air)! Today marks the one-year anniversary of HeroTalk, and we have an exciting episode lined up for you.In this episode, your hosts, David and Kat, delve into the fascinating concept known as the hedgehog concept. We explore how this concept can lead to extraordinary success for both individuals and companies.First, we discuss the basic idea behind the hedgehog concept, which is about finding the perfect combination of what you love, what you're good at, and what can make you money. It's like discovering your own special superpower that can make you really successful and happy.Building upon that, we take a closer look at how the hedgehog concept applies to a real-life company called Rooter Hero Plumbing & Air. We explore what Rooter Hero is deeply passionate about, such as providing exceptional plumbing and air services to their customers.We also explore Rooter Hero's expertise, focusing on the skills and knowledge they have developed to become experts in their industry. From their highly trained technicians to their cutting-edge equipment, Rooter Hero excels at what they do.Lastly, we delve into the economic viability of Rooter Hero's business. We discuss how their commitment to exceptional service and customer satisfaction has helped them build a solid reputation and generate sustainable financial success.Throughout the episode, we reflect on the lessons we can learn from the hedgehog concept and how individuals and companies can apply these principles to achieve greatness. We highlight the importance of finding your passion, honing your skills, and identifying ways to create value in the marketplace.Join us in celebrating the one-year anniversary of HeroTalk and dive into this captivating exploration of the hedgehog concept and its application to Rooter Hero Plumbing & Air. Get ready to unlock your own superpowers and reach new heights of success!Thank you for being part of our HeroTalk journey, and here's to many more inspiring episodes ahead. Stay tuned for more conversations with remarkable heroes who are making a difference in their fields. Keep being a hero in your own life, and remember that greatness is within your reach!

In this episode of the Ambitious Lifestyle Business Podcast, we meet Stephen Gibbens from Accountech.   A culture of overwork led to Stephen collapsing in his car, fearing a heart attack - or worse. He'd spent decades growing his business and had no desire to become the richest man in the graveyard.   In the hard-hitting episode, Stephen tells us:   Why overworking is bad - for your health and your wealth How to spot the symptoms of overwork. Why he never considered his to be a lifestyle business. How Jim Collin's Hedgehog Concept changed his thinking. Why "clients with very little money" are his perfect niche.

In this episode, Nathan, Brad, and Joshua dive into the concepts discussed in Jim Collins book Good to Great. They specifically hone in on the details of Level 5 leaders and the hedgehog model. Check out Jim Collins site and purchase Good to Great here Nathan is the president and co-founder of Baba Java Coffee. He founded Baba Java Coffee alongside his son, Joshua Parvin in 2018. Nathan serves as the big-picture visionary that pioneers strategic growth in all internal and external Baba Java endeavors. Brad is the Vice President of Operations and long-time close friend to Nathan. Brad inspired the business concept at the very heart of Baba Java and continues to instill their values in day-to-day operations. Without Brad, Baba Java would not exist as it is today. Joshua Parvin is the Baba Java International Lead and co-founder of Baba Java Coffee. He founded Baba Java Coffee alongside his dad, Nathan Parvin. Josh serves as both a big visionary and day-to-day manager at Baba Java Coffee. Take Our Coffee Profile Quiz Try Our Coffee https://www.babajavacoffee.com/buy/p/coffee-sample-box Let's Connect Instagram | Facebook | YouTube | Website

Are you a hedgehog or a fox? Shane and Tonya discuss The Hedgehog Concept and how it is key to your insurance agency's success. Join the IA Forward community of insurance agents on LinkedIn, Instagram, and Facebook, or learn more at iaforward.com. 

There's an old Greek parable that says the fox knows a lot of things, but the hedgehog knows one big thing. Foxes are cunning and got lots of ideas to try and get the hedgehog, but the hedgehog does one thing really well. It rolls into an armored ball with spikes on it, nothing can get it, and it does it every time. It always works.Applying this concept in entrepreneurship is essentially identifying the one thing you can be good at and doing it consistently.However, it is not as easy as it sounds, especially in the current spirit of entrepreneurship portrayed in social media. Everybody seems to be advocating for multiple streams of income.This is a terrible idea because, more often than not, you'll end up with half-baked ideas.You will likely succeed if you focus on one thing, do it well, and do it for a long time. Everything else is a distraction.Tune in to learn more about the Hedgehog Concept and how to apply it in your business Key Takeaways- The hedgehog's only big thing (03:03)- Identifying the one thing you can be good at (03:42)- Walgreens vs. Eckerd drugs case study (04:28)- Three circles of the Hedgehog Concept (08:24)- Delivering on your value proposition (10:36)- Simplicity is key to success (13:28)Additional Resources:- Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap and Others Don't book ----- Alloy Personal Training- Learn About The Alloy Franchise Opportunity---------You can find the podcast on Apple, Google, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you listen to podcasts.If you haven't already, please rate and review the podcast on Apple Podcasts!

E1: How do you turn your passion into a business? Today, we discuss frameworks that might help you identify your passion and turn it into your next side hustle. And who knows? Maybe it might grow into something much bigger than you imagined.***TOPICS:Concept of Time & Money (0:49)Time and money are the two most influential forces in our daily lives. Changing our perspectives on these two concepts can stretch our minds and reevaluate what we're doing on a daily basis.Reframing Money (2:30)Someone mysteriously wires you a cool $10 million. How would this change your life? Reframing Time (3:31)There's been a major scientific breakthrough and now anyone can live forever. How would this change the way you live? How would you be spending your time?How Urban EDC Started (5:41)I pulled out my credit card statements from the past 30, 60, 90 days and looked through to see if there were any patterns. I noticed that I loved spending my hard earned cash on small, pocketable, well-made goods such as leather wallets, fancy bottle openers, titanium pens, even desktop toys like spinning coins. This gave me a clue into what niche and community I could get into.Exercises for Identifying Your Passion (6:19)Jot down any trends or spending categories that you notice going over your credit card statements. How are you spending your time? You can audit your own time and see if there's overlapping interests between your spending habits and how you're spending your time.The Hedgehog Concept (7:48)This concept is from Jim Collins, arguably one of the most impactful business thinkers today.  Draw three circles overlapping one another: Your Passions, Your Strengths, Your Economic Engine. Once you find yourself in the middle of all 3 circles, you're golden.Real World Examples Using Hedgehog Concept (11:18)You're a big wine lover. If you enjoy writing and have a knack for great writing, you can become a wine critic and start reviewing different wineries. You're a Fantasy Sports fanatic. You could create an app or start a podcast.Using Hedgehog Concept for Employees (12:15)Ensure that each one of your employees is in a position they're good at, in an industry or company that they're passionate about, and the role should make sense financially for the company.JOIN: First Class Founders Premium MembershipDOWNLOAD: Hyper-Visuals For Our Episodes (Free)***FOLLOW / REVIEW:- Follow - Leave 5-star review***CONNECT W/ YONG-SOO:- X- Threads- LinkedIn- Newsletter***First Class Founders is a show for indie hackers, bootstrapped founders, CEOs, solopreneurs, content creators, startup entrepreneurs, and SaaS startups covering topics like build in public, audience growth, product marketing, scaling up, side hustles, holding company, etc. Past guests include Arvid Kahl, Tyler Denk, Noah Kagan, Clint Murphy, Jay Abraham, Andrew Gazdecki, Matt McGarry, Nick Huber, Khe Hy, and more. Episode you might like:Future of Newsletters with Tyler Denk, Founder & CEO at BeehiivFrom Zero to 100K Subscribers: How to Grow Your Newsletter like a Pro with Newsletter Growth Expert Matt McGarry...

Hey Guys! A Hedgehog Concept is not a goal to be the best, a strategy to be the best, an intention to be the best, a plan to be the best. It is an understanding of what you can be the best at. The distinction is absolutely crucial. To go from good to great requires transcending the curse of competence. It requires the discipline to say, “Just because we are good at it—just because we're making money and generating growth—doesn't necessarily mean we can become the best at it.” The good-to-great companies understood that doing what you are good at will only make you good; focusing solely on what you can potentially do better than any other organization is the only path to greatness.

Listen to hear how yet another concept from Jim Collins' book "Good To Great" applies to your second half success plan.http://www.secondhalfsuccessplan.com/post/episode31

I had an interesting experience in my business recently I wanted to share with you. You'll have to listen to the show to hear what happened but why would anyone turn down 20K!?! The reason I shared the story is to illustrate the importance of something Jim Collins calls the Hedgehog Concept. In the podcast, I give a brief overview of it with my own twist. In an effort to keep the episode short, I didn't go into great detail about the components of the Hedgehog Concept or discuss how to find them. While I believe the episode will be helpful in and of itself, I wanted to use this space as a guide to apply the concepts, with a special emphasis on the financial side. OK let's go. One of the circles is gaining an understanding of what you can be the best in the world at. You see, you can get really competent at something but still not have the potential to be great at it. Conversely, you can lack the skills in an area but have the potential to be great. You just haven't put the time in yet. I've been doing BJJ for many years. I've seen people put in tremendous amounts of effort and become very good but not great while I've seen others progress so well that is seems like they were born for it. With all of this said, even the best of the best need to practice extremely hard to reach the highest level. Determining what you can (or can't) be the best at will not happen overnight but once you discover it, they'll be no stopping you. The second circle is what you are deeply passionate about. It's pretty self-explanatory. If you aren't deeply passionate about what you do, you won't persevere when times are tough. It doesn't matter if anyone else is passionate about it. If you are, that's all that matters. I'm deeply passionate about personal finance and helping people improve their situation. It's a dream job for me. One thing I'll mention is you don't necessarily have to be passionate about the mechanics of the business but you might be passionate about what the business stands for. Zappos, for example is passionate about creating a WOW experience and it isn't so much about what they sell. For Starbucks, it's not really about the coffee. You might not even be passionate about the training side of things but find what you are! The final circle and the most important one for our purpose is what drives your economic engine? The Good to Great companies developed an obsession with one economic driver and it wasn't always the obvious one. The idea is to pick one ratio – profit per X, focus on it, and improve it over time. If you do that, you'll be in great shape. Oftentimes, it's simple but we get distracted and don't stay focused on that one ratio. Many businesses focus so much on getting new customers that they forget the ones they have. Sure, marketing for new people is important but it's more profitable and efficient to keep a customer than to lose one and have to find another. The lifetime value (LTV) of each customer or the revenue per member (RPM) are numbers that if you focus on increasing through delivering more value are guaranteed to improve your business and life. So how do you arrive at the answers to these three circles? If you want good answers, you have to ask good questions. The best leaders are constantly asking questions, guided by the 3 circles, to themselves and trusted team members and customers. This iterative process will move you closer and closer to a business that makes the greatest impact and provides the most profit! Can't wait to hear what you think! Here are some important links. Fitness Profits Contact Billy directly about possibly doing coaching with him, visit https://yourfitnessmoneycoach.com/coaching-with-me/ and fill out the form. Listen/Subscribe to the show here: My podcast page Your Fitness Money Coach Itunes Stitcher Spotify IHeart Google You can also search for the Your Fitness Money Coach podcast on major podcast apps.  

#151 - Pick One Thing & Do It Well ***** Want to get $500 off my new digital course, RESTAURANT RECHARGE? Send me an email and I'll get you an exclusive promo code! CONTACT chip@chipklose.com ***** This week's episode is brought to you by: VIRTUAL RESTAURANT GROUP They offer innovative, turnkey delivery-only brands that you're able to easily operate out of your existing restaurant with very little disruption to your current operation. Onboarding is super easy, with recipe guides, and step-by-step training for you and your staff. Visit the link below and use the promo code CHIP2021 to get started. That link is in the show notes VISIT: https://www.virtualrestaurantgroup.com/chip ***** This week's episode is brought to you by: POPMENU If you’re a restaurant owner you need a great website that not only looks beautiful, but helps drive more traffic and sales. Use POPMENU to take your business to the next level. Best of all, listeners of this show can lock in one, set monthly rate… and get $100 off their first month. VISIT: https://popmenu.com/restaurantstrategy ***** In his NY Times bestseller Good to Great, Jim Collins introduces this idea of "The Hedgehog Concept." It's a venn diagram with three overlapping circles... each asking a specific question. The most important of the three goes like this: "What's the one thing you can be the best in the world at?" That's what I want to talk about today. Remember that the opposite of great isn't bad. As Jim Collins suggests in his book, the opposite of great is very good. Let's challenge ourselves to be remarkable. ***** Want to get $500 off my new digital course, RESTAURANT RECHARGE? Send me an email and I'll get you an exclusive promo code! CONTACT chip@chipklose.com

#151 - Pick One Thing & Do It Well ***** Want to get $500 off my new digital course, RESTAURANT RECHARGE? Send me an email and I'll get you an exclusive promo code! CONTACT chip@chipklose.com ***** This week's episode is brought to you by: VIRTUAL RESTAURANT GROUP They offer innovative, turnkey delivery-only brands that you're able to easily operate out of your existing restaurant with very little disruption to your current operation. Onboarding is super easy, with recipe guides, and step-by-step training for you and your staff. Visit the link below and use the promo code CHIP2021 to get started. That link is in the show notes VISIT: https://www.virtualrestaurantgroup.com/chip ***** This week's episode is brought to you by: POPMENU If you’re a restaurant owner you need a great website that not only looks beautiful, but helps drive more traffic and sales. Use POPMENU to take your business to the next level. Best of all, listeners of this show can lock in one, set monthly rate… and get $100 off their first month. VISIT: https://popmenu.com/restaurantstrategy ***** In his NY Times bestseller Good to Great, Jim Collins introduces this idea of "The Hedgehog Concept." It's a venn diagram with three overlapping circles... each asking a specific question. The most important of the three goes like this: "What's the one thing you can be the best in the world at?" That's what I want to talk about today. Remember that the opposite of great isn't bad. As Jim Collins suggests in his book, the opposite of great is very good. Let's challenge ourselves to be remarkable. ***** Want to get $500 off my new digital course, RESTAURANT RECHARGE? Send me an email and I'll get you an exclusive promo code! CONTACT chip@chipklose.com

If you could choose to be a fox or a hedgehog, which would you rather be? Frankly anyone would like to be a fox. After all, foxes are beautiful, sleek and cunning. On the other hand Hedgehogs, are small, prickly creatures quite the opposite to slow, quiet and plodding. But if we talk about business, it pays to be a hedgehog rather than a fox. Are you wondering what we're talking about . We're talking about the hedgehog concept . The Hedgehog Concept is based on an ancient Greek parable that states, "The fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one big thing." What's that one big thing ? Tune with us for this podcast and get to learn more !! Credits : Isha Gola and Shruti Jain

“The Show Must Go On” from good to great and Jim Collins says Greatness is not a function of circumstances and greatness is largely a matter of conscious choice one need to make and what struck my chord was one of the tools in his book Good to Great called `The Hedgehog Concept'' which refers to a unique concept and that will enhance your move from good to great which will make an impact in future. It's based on developing a deep understanding about the intersection of the three circles: What you can be the best in the world at, What drives your economic or resource engine.  What you're deeply passionate about. Time Stamps: 16:32s Read more at https://bit.ly/g2ghedgehog   We love your recommendations! If you have any recommendations on the topic you like us to cover or any leaders who you want me to interview…Please drop a line in the comment section. Please visit www.prajvitaknowledge.com/podcast for complete show notes of this episode. For questions, comments and guest suggestions, contact the host, Jyothi G at LinkedIn or email @ prajvitapro@gmail.com  Like us? Rate & Review us! Please do show us your love by subscribing to this channel in iTunes, or any other podcast platforms and do add it to your favorite's list!  Also, your feedback is definitely a feedforward & your ratings help us build more credibility and attract new listeners. Hence please leave your comment and review as this will definitely ease me to keep making these shows better for you : ) Music: Zapsplat – City Sunshine + Warm Glow Follow the Stars of Learning on Facebook Twitter Instagram

Jim Collins explains in his book, From Good to Great, the power of having a hedgehog concept and how it was a common trait of the businesses that had truly made the jump from good to great. In this episode of The Titanium Vault hosted by RJ Bates III, I breakdown the impact having a hedgehog concept had on Titanium Investments and how you can implement this concept in your real estate business.To attend our 2 day trial by fire boot camp, The Titanium Crucible visit https://titaniumcrucible.comIf you're just starting out and you want to market directly to sellers, I highly recommend using BatchLeads. We currently use them in our business to pull lists, stack lists, get phone numbers, text, and find property values. It is an amazing service that will help you get deals on any budget!Promo Code: TITANIUM for half off your first month: https://www.batchleads.io/​For a 7 Day FREE trial of BatchDialer go to: https://batchdialer.com/titanium14 Day Trial and 50 FREE skip traces on the best Driving for Dollars App in Real Estate Investing: https://batchdriven.com/titaniumReceive 15% off Skip Tracing at Batch Skip Tracing using PROMO code TITANIUM: https://www.batchskiptracing.com/Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/rjbatesiii)

John Riley joins Ed Franklin on his No Limits podcast to discuss Poway News, the Jim Collins book Good to Great, and a range of sales and marketing tips. We discuss email marketing, SMS text marketing, podcasting, sales skills, communication, setting expectations, how businesses can best organize their culture to encourage more revenue generation and many other sales and marketing tips. John and Ed share their thoughts on various aspects of the book Good to Great including the Hedgehog Concept, Selling the Mills, Flywheel Concept and Getting the Right People on the Bus. We remember Verne Marston and the splendid work he offered for the Poway Chamber of Commerce. John shares his thoughts on the upside of the Poway Road development and the upgrades provided for our local community, housing market and local business. #NoLimits #EdFranklin #Poway Get proven and easy-to-implement strategies to build your business and pursue your happiness. Sign up now. It's FREE! https://johnrileyproject.com/ Be sure to share this video with a friend! ☆☆    STAY CONNECTED    ☆☆ SUBSCRIBE for more reactions, upcoming shows and more! ► https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJJSzeIW2A-AeT7gwonglMA FACEBOOK ➡ https://www.facebook.com/johnrileyproject/ TWITTER ➡ https://twitter.com/JohnRileyPoway INSTAGRAM ➡  https://www.instagram.com/johnrileypoway/ Sponsorship Inquiries https://johnrileyproject.com/sponsorship/ Music https://www.purple-planet.com Ed Franklin Info: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/edwardefranklin Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ed.franklin.9 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/edfranklin1962 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/edfranklin-nolimits/id1553490805

In his book “Good To Great” Jim Collins writes about what he calls “the Hedgehog Concept.” I believe that Marvel has one, which they follow, and that has been an important aspect of their success. For my previous podcast click here.DC VS Marvel. LeadershipGet your free 1/2 hour consultation by using our contact page.Join the O'Connor Bootstrap Podcast FB group by clicking HEREThanks for listening to the O'Connor Bootstrap podcast, an Atheoz business solutions podcast.You can reach out to me at Isaiah@ballongeventbyraa.com If you find value in my podcasts please subscribe and share.Or if you would like to support my work you can buy me a coffee at www.buymeacoffee.com/bootstrapPay Pal paypal.me/IocPodOur sponsors:Short courses for busy people Listenable.com Get your 30% discount by using code isaiahoconnor at checkout. Learning made easy for the busy entrepreneur, www.Audible.com /BootstrapTravel in style with Tilley Or if you need to monetize your content check out AWINUntil next time, I have been,Your Friendly Neighborhood Entrepreneur, Isaiah O'Connor

Ashley Merrill is CEO and founder of Lunya, a luxury sleepwear brand. On this podcast, we talk about Ashley's crazy launch story, learning the language of your industry, why successful virality is the anomaly and not the norm, and so much more! To learn more, visit: http://honestecommerce.co Resources: Luxury sleepwear for the modern woman lunya.co Sleepwear for the modern man lahgo.co Follow Ashley @ashley__merrill The Hedgehog Concept jimcollins.com/concepts/the-hedgehog-concept.html Read an article derived from Good to Great straight from Jim Collin's blog jimcollins.com/article_topics/articles/good-to-great.html Download a free chapter of the Small Giants book smallgiants.org/chapter-download Buy the Who: The A Method for Hiring book whothebook.com Scale your business with electriceye.io Level up your customer support gorgias.grsm.io/honest Get a free trial at klaviyo.com/honest Find out how your business can be sales tax ready at avalara.com/honest  Get 1 month of automated Shopify backups for free at rewind.io/honest

In this episode Chad addresses the root issue of the FAQ: "How much should I expect to grow coming out of the pandemic now that it's 2021?" Tune in to hear how Chad applies Jim Collins' Hedgehog Concept for continual growth despite external roadblocks.

Today we’re diving into Part 4 of my Good to Great series. This one is about a game changing idea called the Hedgehog Concept. I learned this principle in G2G and have seen it played out in every scenario where I’ve seen lasting success. In a nutshell, the Hedgehog Concept is where the following 3 things connect: 1) What can I be the best in the world at? 2) What am I deeply passionate about? 3) What drives my economic engine? If you listen to this episode, you’ll hear the following mentioned: The difference between a hedgehog and a fox Ideas from the hedgehog concept apply to any arena Examples of things you can be the best at: Customer service, a specific training model, hiring Example of economic drivers: Profit per square foot, profit per employee, profit per customer There is nothing wrong with making money but that can’t be your only driver What’s the problem you’re passionate about helping people solve? Lead with questions, dialogue/debate, make decisions, analyze/autopsy Have a council Contact Billy directly about possibly doing coaching with him, visit https://yourfitnessmoneycoach.com/coaching-with-me/ and fill out the form. Listen/Subscribe to the show here: My podcast page Your Fitness Money Coach Itunes Spotify IHeart Stitcher Google RSS You can also search for the Your Fitness Money Coach podcast on major podcast apps.    

This week, David gives an overview of his newest book- Rebound Ability. In his insightful book, David shares the lessons he has learned as he clawed his way back from a personal crisis to go from bankruptcy to prosperity in just 5 years. So if you are just starting to get off your feet or in a kind of slump right now, Rebound Ability is your best source for inspiration and motivation.You can get the book by clicking the link in the pinned comment below. —David is an experienced Entrepreneur, Business Consultant, Author, Speaker and Online Trainer. He is a regular contributor on Business and Personal Development podcasts and on Social Media where he shares his insights into what a person needs to do to enjoy Business and Personal Success.David's primary focus is to help business owners to identify the key issues they need to address and to take the right action steps when they need to take them. David will work with you to ensure you make the changes you need to guarantee your business success and fulfillment. —Follow Me:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidhogan1/​Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/davidhoganmb/​Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/davidhoganmb​Website: https://david-hogan.com/

When an organization has identified its Hedgehog Concept, its leaders should devote all of their energy and resources to pursuing it.But what is the Hedgehog Concept and why do you need it for your business? Let me break it down for you.—David is an experienced Entrepreneur, Business Consultant, Author, Speaker and Online Trainer. He is a regular contributor on Business and Personal Development podcasts and on Social Media where he shares his insights into what a person needs to do to enjoy Business and Personal Success.David's primary focus is to help business owners to identify the key issues they need to address and to take the right action steps when they need to take them. David will work with you to ensure you make the changes you need to guarantee your business success and fulfillment. —Connect:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidhogan1/​Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/davidhoganmb/​Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/davidhoganmb​Website: https://david-hogan.com/

”An intense desire or enthusiasm for something.”   PASSION as defined in the Oxford dictionary. Passion is needed in different things that you want to do. In order to do great in your business, more passion is needed. Having passion added to your business means you have the drive to be more successful. In today’s show, I will share with you my insights on how to add more passion to your business. Listen up, relax, and enjoy! Here are a few insights you’ll hear in today’s podcast show Quick tips in adding more passion to your business A deeper understanding of being good to great in your business The 3 areas where you can inject more passion into your business Consistency and commitment to your business in achieving success Creating a marketing strategy that will increase the demand The importance of knowing your competitors   Success Quotes “Passion is a big driver in business.”  “There is no passion to be found playing small, in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living.” - Nelson Mandela “Passion means love.” “You need an intense desire or enthusiasm for what it is that you do.” “If you want to be in a position to take your business from good to great, you have to have passion.” “Passion is energy. Feel the power that comes from focusing on what excites you.”  - Oprah Winfrey    Resources Book Your Appointment With Leon Now! The Hedgehog Concept by Jim Collins The AIDA Model   Book recommended by Leon Good to Great by Jim Collins Man Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell   Connect with Leon Youtube Facebook Website Instagram   

It can be challenging to identify the best opportunities to pursue in business. Some can unlock incredible growth, while others may lead to mediocre results or worse. So, let's explore how ‘The Hedgehog Concept' can help you choose better opportunities.The Hedgehog Concept was first introduced in Good To Great by Jim Collins. While the book covers six key insights, The Hedgehog Concept is one of the most popular because it's linked with achieving breakthrough results. It's based on developing a deep understanding of three circles for identifying your own simple, crystalline concept. So, let's take a look at all three.CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL ARTICLE, BOOK LINKS, AND MORE:

winning_edge_-_good_to_great_-_hedgehog_concept.mp3File Size: 45467 kbFile Type: mp3Download File [...]

How Does the Hedgehog Concept Compare to Ikigai? Ikigai is a Japanese concept, which roughly translates as: “The happiness of always being busy”. It is about what you find meaningful and what makes you happy. Marc Winn put the term in a Venn-diagram from a TEDTalk on the blue zones. Blue zones are areas in the world where many people live a 100 years or more: "If you know your Ikigai, you live longer & happier". Ikigai 4 circles: Passion, Vocation, Profession Mission. Hedgehog Concept 3 circles: (ref. ep.# 56) What you are deeply passionate about, What you can be the best in the world at, What best drives your economic/resource engine. Both concepts can be adapted from businesses to individuals. Both concepts are ways to approach life in general. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/nadjmat/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/nadjmat/support

"The fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one big thing." Archilochus of Paros Hedgehogs have a single grand idea that they apply to everything, while foxes come up with a new idea for every situation. As per the book “Good to Great” by Jim Collins, here are the 3 key principles of The Hedgehog Concept: What you are deeply passionate about What you can be the best in the world at What best drives your economic/resource engine Foxes are known to be clever, sly animals but they have way too many different strategies to get what they want. They pursue a range of goals in one go. Hedgehog on the other hand, have one goal in mind and they strive to do it well! Most people initially favor the Fox, cunning and skillful, but this can have a negative effect on what you are trying to achieve in the long run. You are more likely to be scattered and inconsistent in your work. Hedgehogs are more likely to be winners. They focus on what they are good at and do it well! Transformations from “good to great” come by a series of good decisions made consistently with a Hedgehog Concept, supremely well executed, accumulating one upon another, over a long period of time. Think about your company, career, or even life in general, are you a fox or a hedgehog? Do you jump from one idea to the next to achieve a goal? Are you consistent with what you want and work hard on that alone? --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/nadjmat/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/nadjmat/support

What is a hedgehog concept? How we can leverage our strengths instead of our weaknesses The six types of working genius Choosing By Advantages

Why does a hedgehog make a better leader than a fox? The Greek parable about the two animals — inspired by a great analogy in Jim Collins' book “Good to Great” — gives us a key piece of advice on leadership. Jon explains why it's so important to define your own Hedgehog Concept: one big idea to guide your decisions and drive success. Our challenge for you: How can you put your greatest passion at the center of everything your enterprise does? --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/get-forward-focused/message

Irrespective of how long we have been in business or just learning the ropes of it, knowing, understanding or reminding ourselves of the three circles as well as implementing the hedgehog concept, all through the years is what differentiates highly successful businesses from just successful ones. For more info, visit https://www.ellasamuels.com/

There are three ways to generate passive income; start a business, invest or speculate. The key word in that sentence is passive. Passive means you can generate economic benefits without the requirement of your personal exertion. Since it doesn’t require personal exertion, it frees up your time to spend it on activities or with the people you love.Each of these three options have merit. But the important thing to note is that not all three will suit everyone. This point is very important to appreciate, and could save you a lot of time, stress and money!A quick bit of theory firstLegendary author and prolific researcher, Jim Collins formulated a concept called the “Hedgehog Concept”. The Hedgehog Concept was based on the famous essay by Isaiah Berlin in which he refers to an ancient Greek story: “The fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one big thing.”It was Collins’ thesis that successful companies are laser-focused on the Hedgehog Concept, which is the intersection of 3 important considerations or questions (i.e. the orange portion in the illustration below):1. what you are deeply passionate about,2. what you can be the best in the world at, and3. what best drives your economic or resource engine.Successful companies focus on delivering products or services that they can be the best at and ignore all other opportunities.(By the way, Jim Collins’ book, Good to Great is one of the best business books I have read.)Let me share a quick story about meBefore I relate this theory to personal investment, let me share a story with you.I have some friends that are successful property developers and make substantial six-figure profits. In the past, I have considered whether I should get involved in property development too, especially since I have the property, finance and taxation knowledge. However, many years ago, I decided to focus on my Hedgehog. Property development just isn’t for me.Property developing takes a lot of time. So, I could either spend my time on developing property with the aim of generating a once-off profit. Alternatively, I could spend that time thinking about and helping my clients build wealth. Just one idea that helps a client creates a lot of value for them and me. That client will continue to do business with my firm and will likely refer their friends. And that will generate long term value for both of us.I am deeply passionate about delivering the best independent financial advice. I am good at the work I do. And accumulating a number of happy ongoing clients generates stable economic returns. This is my Hedgehog and when I stick to it, my personal wealth grows. The reverse is true when I have deviated (which I did before I learnt this lesson).One of my mentors, who has operated a successful business for more than 50 years and built significant personal wealth, advised me; “Every time I’ve done something outside of my core business, it has cost me time and money.”Medico mortgage default rates are low if they stick to what they knowThe big 4 banks all have special divisions that target doctors (and have for many years) because it is widely accepted that mortgage default rates are substantially lower than the average. This stands to reason given few doctors are ever unemployed and their income is very stable and typically higher than the average.This is true when lending to a doctor for home or investment purposes. However, statistics demonstrate that when a doctor borrows for another purpose e.g. property development or unrelated business, default rates skyrocket. Most doctors are smart, hard-working people. But that doesn’t necessarily translate to them also being successful business owners. Statistics would overwhelmingly indicate that doctors should stick to their day job.My client Simon…Simon has been (mortgage broking service) client for over 10 years (this is not his real name of course). Over this period, he has tried to find many shortcuts to wealth. This has included investing in different property types and locations, which might have been sexy at the time but lacked fundamentals. He has also dabbled in various businesses. None of these activities have created a lot of wealth and some have been a disaster.Simon’s has earned an above average income for a long time and doesn’t over-spend (lives relatively frugally).Simon would be in a substantially better financial position today if he stuck to an evidence-based strategy and quite frankly, not listened to his own advice or ideas.Mistakes often compound. Making a bad investment decision that causes financial loss often tempts people to brainstorm ideas with the sole aim of mitigating any financial losses. These ideas are invariably aimed in the pursuit of short-term profit (which is at the cost of long-term value). In effect, one bad decision is often followed by another.Do you have the ability and passion to become an investment expert?The proverb “A little knowledge is a dangerous thing” needs to be rewritten for investing. The proverb should be “Anything short of complete knowledge is a dangerous thing”.Some of my clients are quite financially astute. They understand and know most things – they are just missing the last 5-10% of knowledge or experience. But that last 5-10% is usually critical. You only have to be a little bit wrong to be completely wrong.The fact is, that some people will never become great investors. Some people will never be successful entrepreneurs. But that’s okay. You must find what you are good at and delegate all other important things.The Hedgehog Concept applies perfectly well to personal investing. You must ask yourself two questions:1. Can you be the best in the world at formulating and implementing Australian-based investments; and2. Are you deeply passionate about investing – passion is more than just an interest?If you can honestly answer yes to both of those questions, then it’s likely it is in your best interest that you make your own investment decisions.However, if your answer is ‘no’ to either or both questions, then you are better off sticking to your day job and paying for (and following) high quality financial advice. When it comes to building wealth, often the slow and boring path is the most successful one in the long run.

Today we review the first half of Good To Great by Jim Collins, discussing the three categories of businesses studied and why forming a hedgehog concept is vital for growth and prosperity. Enjoy and Apply! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/mdrnac/message

Many companies start with the idea of making a lot of money, but sadly those companies go out of business or jump from idea to idea never becoming as successful as they had hoped.  In today's Better Wealth Breakdown, Dan and I talk about the book “Good To Great” by Jim Collins and his “Hedgehog Concept” which explains how companies can become great by gaining clarity in three areas: What can you be best in the world at, what drives your economic engine, and what are you deeply passionate about?  We then use these three areas of the “Hedgehog concept” to evaluate BetterWealth as a company.     Links: BetterWealth Visit out our Website - https://betterwealth.com/ Get a free book - https://order.andasset.com/book Contact Us - info@betterwealth.com  “Good To Great” by Jim Collins "Good To Great" by Jim Collins Good to Great Article by Jim Collins Resources:   The three best ways BetterWealth can best serve you:    Take our free Wealth Assessment Get a free book Check out BetterWealth University Work with us directly  Review, Subscribe and Share If you like what you hear please leave a review by clicking here Make sure you’re subscribed to the podcast so you get the latest episodes. Subscribe with Apple Podcasts Follow on Spotify Subscribe with Stitcher  

Be a Hedgehog! Today I talk about the Hedgehog concept from Jim Collins' book 'Good To Great'. Another book down

In this episode Philip and Seth break down how they were able to find their gifts and the journey they are still on in pursing God's calling in their lives. They also break down what advice they would give to others who are still looking to discover what their gift or purpose is. Resources mentioned in this episode: Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap and Others Don't by Jim Collins (If you just want to read about the "Hedgehog Concept," here is a link by Collins: https://www.jimcollins.com/concepts/the-hedgehog-concept.html We aim to bring transparency to leadership to help enable the next generation of leaders to thrive. Music Used: Intro/Outro: Dorian by Andrew Langdon Transitions: Trapped by Quinoas Moreira Orange Octopus by Unicorn Heads

Good to Great by Jim Collins lays out six business principles that explain how companies can go from being good, or average, to being great or extraordinary.The six principles are called:- Level 5 Leadership- First Who, Then What- Confront the Brutal Facts- The Hedgehog Concept- A Culture of Discipline- Technology AcceleratorsAfter going through what these mean, I compare Good to Great to two books that have been covered in previous episodes:- How does the Hedgehog Concept relate to the advice given in The $100 Startup by Chris Guillebeau?- Can we see these principles in the efforts of Howard Schultz in his book Onward?Please let me know your thoughts on this episode by finding me on Instagram!@kail.letkemann

Nathan has been in the video industry since 2007 and has worked with a huge variety of impressive clients. Right now his focus is in educational filming, live events and livestreaming. He has already done so many things in his business, so how can he take it to the next level? In this episode, we discuss: 80/20 time/income  Letting go vs risking bottleneck  The Hedgehog Concept

I hear lots of business plans. Most of them are trying to do a ton of things. For example: “It’s a social networking e-commerce portal for live music, where everyone creates a profile to enter all their dates, if they’re a musician or venue, or their available dates if they’re a music fan. Then we connect the fans with artists’ dates. Then we can sell the tickets for the events, and give a digital download preview of the music. After the show, the artist uploads the video from the night, and people can purchase the video of the show they were at, and connect with other people who attended that same show to create tribes of people, who will recommend other music you may like if you like that. Oh and it will have a dating component, and real-time chat.” It sounds like I’m exaggerating but this is unfortunately a very typical example. I have to say, “OK. You know software version numbers? Mac OS version 10.4? 10.5? What you just described is version infinity. That’s everything it will ever do in the future. First focus on launching version 0.1.” What’s the one crucial part of that giant plan? What’s the one killer feature that nobody else is doing? Get it launched with just that. Then add the rest later. The book “Good to Great” studied hundreds of companies that started out as good, then at some point in their history became great. They found that all of these companies had the “Hedgehog Concept.” They focused on the one thing they do best, and let go of the rest. A fox is smart, with many tricks. A hedgehog only knows one trick: curl into a ball with its spikes out. But the fox’s many tricks are no match for the hedgehog’s one. A fox can’t eat a hedgehog. Many companies are trying to be the fox. The book says the winners are like the hedgehog. Got a complex business idea? Break it down into its ingredients, and let the specialists do what they do best. Video aspect? Let YouTube handle that part. E-Commerce aspect? Use Amazon’s system. Payments? Use Stripe. Don’t reinvent any of these wheels. Focus on what’s left — what hasn’t been done. Specialize at that one thing, and become that go-to company that nobody can beat in your niche. (P.S. I think the term “version infinity” came from a talk with Jason Fried.)

I hear lots of business plans. Most of them are trying to do a ton of things. For example: “It’s a social networking e-commerce portal for live music, where everyone creates a profile to enter all their dates, if they’re a musician or venue, or their available dates if they’re a music fan. Then we connect the fans with artists’ dates. Then we can sell the tickets for the events, and give a digital download preview of the music. After the show, the artist uploads the video from the night, and people can purchase the video of the show they were at, and connect with other people who attended that same show to create tribes of people, who will recommend other music you may like if you like that. Oh and it will have a dating component, and real-time chat.” It sounds like I’m exaggerating but this is unfortunately a very typical example. I have to say, “OK. You know software version numbers? Mac OS version 10.4? 10.5? What you just described is version infinity. That’s everything it will ever do in the future. First focus on launching version 0.1.” What’s the one crucial part of that giant plan? What’s the one killer feature that nobody else is doing? Get it launched with just that. Then add the rest later. The book “Good to Great” studied hundreds of companies that started out as good, then at some point in their history became great. They found that all of these companies had the “Hedgehog Concept.” They focused on the one thing they do best, and let go of the rest. A fox is smart, with many tricks. A hedgehog only knows one trick: curl into a ball with its spikes out. But the fox’s many tricks are no match for the hedgehog’s one. A fox can’t eat a hedgehog. Many companies are trying to be the fox. The book says the winners are like the hedgehog. Got a complex business idea? Break it down into its ingredients, and let the specialists do what they do best. Video aspect? Let YouTube handle that part. E-Commerce aspect? Use Amazon’s system. Payments? Use Stripe. Don’t reinvent any of these wheels. Focus on what’s left — what hasn’t been done. Specialize at that one thing, and become that go-to company that nobody can beat in your niche. (P.S. I think the term “version infinity” came from a talk with Jason Fried.)

For a long time, I believed that taking advantage of latest technology would separate the upper echelon of companies from the rest. Maybe this is because of my programmer background where everything shiny and new is the best. However, the point was made that you cannot decide which technologies to use until you have your Hedgehog Concept defined and once that is done, the technology needs to align with it. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/zarirmerwanji/message

The Podcast for Project Managers by Project Managers Table of Contents 01:14 … Velociteach Beginnings 04:22 … Lessons Learned Stories 07:47 … “Bad news Does Not Get Better With Time” 11:59 … AI 14:49 … Getting Past the Storming Phase 18:22 … When and How to Conduct Meetings 22:50 … Monitoring Projects 27:13 … How to Properly Close Tasks 29:12 … The Future of Project Management 33:17 … Closing BILL YATES:  But I saw the opportunity to, again, join a really – a growing enterprise that would really put a thumbprint on project management, be able to really influence an industry.  And that was exciting to me. ANDY CROWE:  A shameless plug.  I think that's the best thing for me about this career is that we've been able to help people. NICK WALKER:  Welcome to Manage This, the podcast by project managers for project managers.  This is the time we've set aside to discuss with you the subject of project management and touch on some of the issues that are important to you as a professional project manager. I'm your host, Nick Walker, and with me are the two guys who make this podcast happen, Andy Crowe and Bill Yates.  And so guys, now, in a previous podcast we talked with the two of you about some of the specific questions our listeners have.  It was a great discussion, and today we want to continue in that same vein, trying to get to the heart of what our listeners are chiefly concerned about. But before we dive into some of these questions, can I just ask each of you a little bit about your background, I'm curious, Andy, how did Velociteach come about?  I know you're the founder of this organization.  How did this get started? Velociteach Beginnings ANDY CROWE:  Well, it started – our birthday is September 30th, 2002.  But how it got started was kind of fun, I was a director of projects for a publicly traded company here in Atlanta. And I was traveling nonstop, and so it was one of those things that I decided, okay, I'm going to need to – I had a young family at the time.  Children were small.  And I said, “I need a break.” And so I left that job, and that was an insane career move because I made too much money to quit, and I left and started Velociteach shortly after that. So a lot of it was just processing with my wife, look, I love to write, I love project management, and I enjoy the classroom, and it really brought those things together that it was a good marriage of those skills. And you know we've talked before about Jim Collins's Hedgehog Concept, which is – Bill, remind me.  It's what you can make money at, what you're passionate about... BILL YATES:  What you can be best in the world at. ANDY CROWE:  What you can be world class.  And so it kind of fit that, I felt like, you know what, I do have a passion about project management, it's a profession that's going places now.  So there were some economic opportunities, and I felt like there were things that we wanted to build a world-class organization, so that was the goal. NICK WALKER:  Bill Yates, how did you get into this organization?  How did you become a part? BILL YATES:  Yeah, well, you can hear it from Andy.  I mean, he's got passion, and he's got direction and a vision which was really compelling to me.  So, we started talking, I think in 2004, and I left my job to join Velociteach in 2005, my experience had been with utilities, tax software, tax and compliance software for utilities – gas, electric, and telcos – and had been doing that really for 18 years with different organizations. Went from a small company to one of 90,000 at EDS, then we bought our company or bought our product from EDS, so we went to a company of eight.   So I think we were around 20 back in 2004 when I started talking with Andy.  But I saw the opportunity to, again, join a really – a growing enterprise that would really put a thumbprint on project management, be able to really influence an industry.  And that was exciting to me.

As entrepreneurs, we tend to never have enough time, could it be because you are spending 90% of your time, like I was, focusing on the wrong things? In today's episode I'm going to share with you something we implemented into our business that in one year helped us grow by $100,000 AND spend 90% LESS on advertising! Because anyone can grow their business by 100,000 and do it by spending more on advertising and marketing, but what we did was actually the opposite. What we're going to be talking about today is The Hedgehog Concept. So before jump into the hedgehog concept I have a question for you. If you could choose to be a fox or hedgehog, which would you choose? Most people would choose to be a fox. Foxes are beautiful, sleek and cunning. Where hedgehogs are small, prickly creatures that are quite the opposite: slow, quiet and really kind of silly looking. So, what do foxes and hedgehogs have to do with your business's success? It has EVERYTHING to do with it! It's all about learning the art of simplicity, like a hedgehog, and creating a clear focus for your organization. So let's talk about why it pays to be a hedgehog rather than a fox and what exactly is this hedgehog concept? It's time for you to bring in your focus and create your own hedgehog concept. This is your action step of the week! Sign up for my newsletter here: http://eepurl.com/dNX1Rw and I will send you our hedgehog concept and how to create your own so that you can focus your business & grow. Once you come up with your concept, then it's time to start taking inventory on where you are spending your time and where are things no longer aligned. As always, I'd love to hear from you! Take a screenshot of this podcast and upload it to Instagram or Facebook with the tag @underneaththeclothes. Let me know what your distractions currently are or what your hedgehog concept is! Know of a fellow woman entrepreneur who wants to take control of her business? Feel like this podcast resonated with you? I'd love for you to share this with a friend, or two. Together, we can help entrepreneurship become a topic that gets talked about more often and our failures get celebrated! Quote of the week: “Give the world the best that you have and the best will come back to you.”

The most successful companies make themselves the best in the world at one thing. A letter from CEO Ronan Perceval discussing Jim Collins' Hedgehog Concept. Who wrote the article? Ronan Perceval is Phorest Salon Software's founder and CEO, a UK/Ireland-based salon software he created for the Hair and Beauty industry after years as a salon receptionist. He believes retaining your best clients is smarter than chasing new ones and that tech designed from direct salon feedback is crucial to its adoption and success. Full link https://www.phorest.com/blog/hedgehog-concept-salon/ Check out the Phorest Blog for even more salon marketing and management tips, ideas, freebies and ebooks: https://www.phorest.com/resources Who is Phorest Salon Software? Phorest Salon Software has more than 4,000 spas and salons as customers in Ireland, the UK, Finland and the USA. Forbes describes us as "the leading salon appointment and CRM software company." We help salon owners get their clients in more often, spending more and generating referrals. #LetsGrow Click here to request a quote or book in for a free demo with Phorest Salon Software and find out more. Join Phorest Salon Software online! Facebook Instagram Twitter LinkedIn Phorest FM Podcast

On today’s Book of the Week episode, we are joined by Steve’s friend and partner, Michael Pinkowski. Michael talks about the book, Good to Great by Jim Collins. This book describes how good companies transition to great companies. Jim and his team researched and identified 11 companies that made that leap. Here are more gold nuggets on today’s episode: The level 5 leadership - leaders that are humble, but driven to do what’s best for the company. The three buckets - disciplined people, disciplined thought and disciplined action. The Hedgehog Concept - the story of the hedgehog and the fox. Bonus - Michael talks about his favorite non-business book that also relates to these concepts. So sit back and listen as Michael presents one of the bestselling management books - Good to Great by Jim Collins. Welcome to the Awesomers.com podcast. If you love to learn and if you're motivated to expand your mind and heck if you desire to break through those traditional paradigms and find your own version of success, you are in the right place. Awesomers around the world are on a journey to improve their lives and the lives of those around them. We believe in paying it forward and we fundamentally try to live up to the great Zig Ziglar quote where he said, "You can have everything in your life you want if you help enough other people get what they want." It doesn't matter where you came from. It only matters where you're going. My name is Steve Simonson and I hope you will join me on this Awesomer journey. SPONSOR ADVERTISEMENT If you're launching a new product manufactured in China, you will need professional high-resolution Amazon ready photographs. Because Symo Global has a team of professionals in China, you will oftentimes receive your listing photographs before your product even leaves the country. This streamlined process will save you the time, money and energy needed to concentrate on marketing and other creative content strategies before your item is in stock and ready for sale. Visit SymoGlobal.com to learn more. Because a picture should be worth one thousand keywords. You're listening to the Awesomers podcast. Steve: Hello Awesomers! Today, we have a special episode for you and this is Episode number 46 of the Awesomers.com podcast series. And the great news is I've had my friend and partner Michael Pinkowski come on to join us to record this Book of the Week episode. Now, the book he's going to cover is called Good to Great by Jim Collins and it's a book that I've read a couple times at least and it's a book that I believe in. Even though it's a little bit of an older book, the lessons in there are quite timeless in my opinion. I think Michael does an excellent job of talking that through. You know, Michael is such a very smart presenter and teacher that he really gives a great rundown of this very important book. I do think it is a staple for any person who's serious about business and Jim Collins, his terminology and his concepts have stood the test of time. And things like saying you know should have BHAG right that's a Big, Hairy, Audacious Goal or the Hedgehog Principle, all these things you will find commonly referred to in today's business vernacular and it's all a result of this very important book, so I'm glad you're joining us. The book Good to Great is going to be presented by Michael Pinkowski in this very special episode. Michael: Hello. This is Michael Pinkowski and you are listening to Awesomers.com. This is Episode 46. So you can find show notes at Awesomers.com/46 and we're going to do a Book of the Week episode. Steve asked me to step in and bring one of my favorite books and I've done that. So, here we go. All right. So when Steven invited me to be a guest host and do Book of the Week I said, “Oh, the first one I got to do is Good to Great.” That's the one. This is a book I come back to - I've read three or four times probably, kind of reviewed it again in preparation

One thing helping businesses keep to their Hedgehog Concept is their inner circle. Whether a Board of Directors, Shareholder meeting. You need the same board of directors & confidants to help you win your transition. I talk about collecting people into five supporting categories: Mentors, Advisors, Masterminds, Accountability Groups, & Coaches. Having one or two from each group helps you reaffirm your own Hedgehog Concept, and keep clarity towards what you want to do after serving. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/militarytransition/support

Before we get into the Hedgehog Concept, let's go to the bedrock: Choice. You chose to enter the uniform; you choose to leave. The difference in the answer to those two questions will tell you a lot about what you value, & the career you truly want to pursue. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/militarytransition/support

The Hedgehog & The Fox is an old Greek parable, but informs today the work you need to do to command your transition. The fox does a great many, disconnected things. The hedgehog does the one thing that means success. It can feel exciting to be a fox. And the military rewards multitasking, multiple skills, having multiple specialties. But that's only one way to win--hedgehogs win more often after the uniform. This is the first of a four skill series, focusing on the Hedgehog Concept as coined by Jim Collins, author of Good to Great. Applied to businesses in his book, how can the Hedgehog Concept work in your life & career choice? --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/militarytransition/support

President Boom challenges students from Luke 18 to follow the “Hedgehog Concept” of humility and fierce resolve.

ABC will produce a 10-episode series exclusively for Snapchat, Uber is following you wherever you go, and what is the Hedgehog Concept?  David and Brett discuss their findings, industry insight and what they have learned as both business owners and entrepreneurs each and every show. 

Welcome to the Start Anew Podcast interview with:Brendan Baker.To subscribe to the podcast, please use the links below:Click Here to Subscribe via iTunes:itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/start-anew-show-find-work/id1118877851Click Here to Subscribe via RSS (non-iTunes feed):stitcher.com/s?fid=91466&refid=stprIf you like the show, we would be so grateful if would consider leaving the show a review in iTunes as well as Stitcher Radio.A couple minutes of your time can help the show immensely! Thank YOU!Brendan writes an incredible blog on living a happy and fulfilling life at startofhappiness.com. He is also a life coach and online entrepreneur from Down Under with a mission to help you make a difference and an income doing what you love. Brendan puts his coaching hat on and coaches you on how to launch your life with clarity & confidence. Download the free self-awareness toolkit for career clarity at the bottom of the page.Show HighlightsDuring the show we unfold:1 exercise to help you discover your 'sweet spot', also called the 'hedgehog concept'. Your sweet spot is the intersection of what you are really passionate about, what you are really good at and what you can actually earn an income from.hedgehog-concept1 exercise you can do on your own to elicit and prioritize your values - your building blocks of happinessBrendan describes confidence as being authentic and be able to freely express who you are.''You can be shy and confident at the same time.'' - Brendan BakerHow to develop the confidence to start anew, the confidence to launch your life.How to begin discovering what you want from your life, your purpose, your personal WHY.Brendan's parting piece of guidanceResourcesBrendon's blogLaunch Your Life AcademyAustralia's Graduate Careers PortalCheck out part 1 of the interview here to learn about Brendan's transformation from Corporate Australia to Professional Blogger, Life Coach and online entrepreneur.Click to view: show page on Awesound

There are two options in life: greatness or mediocrity. But greatness seems so elusive, even so pompous. How do you call your work "great"? How do you even know or benchmark "greatness?". And can a small business achieve greatness or do you have to be a dominant player like Apple, Disney and Walmart. In this episode we get right to the root of greatness and how the book "Good to Great" by Jim Collins changed my life. But instead of the massive journey to greatness, this episode shows you a tiny path. A path most of us can manage with just a little bit of effort. A life of mediocrity is hardly worth living. Here's the pathway to greatness. ----------  Useful Resources / To access this audio + transcript: http://www.psychotactics.com/79 / / Email me at: sean@psychotactics.com / / Twitter/Facebook: seandsouza / / Magic? Yes, magic: http://www.psychotactics.com/magic ----------  Part 1: The Hedgehog Principle Part 2: Preserving the Core + Stimulating Progress Part 3: Big, Hairy Audacious Goal—The BHAG Right click here and ‘save as’ to download this episode to your computer.   Useful Resources 5000bc: How to get reliable answers to your complex marketing problems Why Happiness Eludes You: 3 Obstacles That We Need To Overcome Find out: Do We Really Need To Start With Why? ----------------- The  Transcript “This transcript hasn’t been checked for typos, so you may well find some. If you do, let us know and we’ll be sure to fix them.”   Around the autumn of 1890, Daniel Burnham was given a project. Burnham was an architect—an extremely well known architect—in Chicago. And he’d been given a job like no other. He was expected to turn a boggy square mile into what would be the spotlight of the world. He was put in charge of the World’s Columbian Exposition. He just had one tiny problem—the Eiffel Tower. On March 31, 1889, Paris had had it’s own Exposition. And it quickly surpassed the Washington Monument to become the then tallest man-made structure in the world. Burhnam had the unenviable job of surpassing the hoopla around the Eiffel Tower, but no one had a clue what to do. “Make no little plans”, he said to his team of engineers, but they could come up with little to rival the magnificence of the Eiffel Tower. Of course there were proposals: a tower garlanded with rails to distant cities, another tower from whose top guests would be pushed off in chairs (pretty much like today’s bungee jumping). And Eiffel himself proposed an idea for the Chicago exposition—a bigger tower than the one in Paris. How could the Chicago Exposition outshine the now most famous monument in the world—the Eiffel Tower? It seemed almost impossible to come up with something that would rival the French monument. An engineer called Ferris has the answer. The ideas were going nowhere and the Chicagoans were pulling their hair out, when a 33 year old engineer from Pittsburgh came up with an idea: how about a huge revolving steel wheel? He came up with sketches, added additional specifications and then shared the idea with Burnham. But Burnham was not impressed. The slender rods of the wheel were too fragile. It would be madness to carry people to a height taller than the Statue of Liberty in such a fragile wheel. But Burnham wasn’t just dealing with any ol’ engineer. He was dealing with George Washington Gale Ferris Jr—who would forever be associated with the Ferris wheel. Ferris was so convinced his idea would work that he spent $25,000 of his own money, hired more engineers and recruited investors. And consider that $25,000 would be worth over $650,000 in today’s money. Over a 100,000 parts went into the Ferris wheel. And an 89,320 pound axle had to be hoisted onto two towers 140 feet in the air. On June 21, 1893 when it was launched, it was a stunning success. As the exposition went through the next three week, more than 1.4 million paid 50 cents for a 20-minute ride. George Washington Gale Ferris had literally reinvented the wheel. The year we moved to New Zealand, I had to reinvent my own wheel. You see, I wasn’t in marketing. I had no plans of being in marketing. I was already an established cartoonist back in Mumbai, India and when I moved to New Zealand I pretty much expected to continue to draw cartoons. In fact I was so determined to take that cartoon career forward, that when we moved I had over 100 kilos worth of books shipped. These were no ordinary books. These were the books on graphic design and cartooning that I’d accumulated over the years. Plus, there were brochures. Before I left India, I had no idea what New Zealand held for me. So I printed business cards—as you do But also lavish four colour brochures, postcards and yes, stationery that I could use when I got to New Zealand. All of this material had to be shipped by air—not by sea—because I was in a big hurry to get going in this new country. Yet, almost a year later, I had to reinvent what I was doing—and it was all because of one book. That book, “Good to Great” has sold over 2.5 million hardcover copies. But more importantly, it was the catalyst in my own reinvention. In 2000 as I got on a plane back to India (I had to go back and tidy up things I’d left undone), I had loads of time to read the book and mull over the ideas. And as I’ve mentioned before in articles and podcasts, I realised that I would never reach my greatness in cartooning. To me, the pinnacle of cartooning was the comic strip, “Calvin and Hobbes” by Bill Watterson. If I couldn’t get up to those lofty heights, it wasn’t feeding my greatness appetite. And so I turned to something I was getting exceedingly good at doing—creating taglines for small businesses. Without realising it, I was wandering down the aisle of marketing. The book—and that 19 hour flight—it did it for me. It put me on my quest for what I’d consider my “greatness journey”. But just as it set the benchmarks, it also raised a ton of questions. Are there benchmarks to know that you’re moving from good to great? How do you know what you’re choosing will end up being great? With all the stories of greatness bouncing around Apple, Boeing, Disney and Walmart, how can a small business owner get to greatness, without becoming big and dominant? Big questions—and it’s best to keep the answers simple. Deep, yet simple. Let’s take a trip and explore the three core elements required to get your own Ferris wheel going—even when the odds seem stacked against you. The three elements we’ll cover are: The Hedgehog Principle Preserving the Core + Stimulating Progress Big, Hairy Audacious Goal—The BHAG.   Avis—the car rental company—was pretty much in the doldrums. Back in 1961, it was losing $3.2 million a year and there seemed to be no way to beat the domination of their biggest rival—Hertz. And the two companies had been at each others throats since the mid-1940s, when Air Force officer, Warren Avis created a niche out of thin air. As he travelled around, Warren Avis  realized that most car companies were downtown—not a very convenient place to get a car if you just flew into a city. Business travel was growing steadily and many executives would touch down, rent a car, drive to their meetings and drop the car back at the airport on the very same day. Hertz was not impressed They continued to run their rental car business downtown, as if Avis didn’t exist. Yet, over time, they found Avis gobbling up chunks of their business. It seemed logical to simply replicate what Avis had done. With this move, Hertz signalled the start of the rivalry that exists to this day. But then, along came 1962 and an creative agency called Doyle Dane Bernbach (DDB). The copywriter team of Paula Greene and Helmut Krone created an advertising campaign that would take Avis from losing $3.2 million to earning $1.2 million. What’s more, it would rock Hertz’ smugness to its very core. From 1963 to 1966, Hertz smug look turned to paralysis The market share percentage gap between the two car companies shrunk from 61-29 to 49-36. The “We’re only No.2. We try Harder” immediately captured the attention of the public. But why did this “We try harder” campaign really work? When we look at the Hedgehog Concept outlined in “Good to Great”, the answer is more than apparent. The Hedgehog principle consists of three pertinent questions: – What can you be the best in the world at? – What drives your economic engine? – What are you deeply passionate about? Avis could easily answer those questions—but only once it had the new ad campaign going It was the best in the world at “bending over backwards” to make car customers happy. After all it was only No.2, and couldn’t afford to rest on its laurels. This concept of “trying harder” got the entire company to indeed try harder. And yes, we all know how their bleeding balance sheet made a sharp U-turn into decent profitability. They got the “best in the world” covered, the “economic engine” was purring away. Only one thing remained—the passion. The “we try harder” might have been just a slogan, but it was a slogan that drove the passion—and if the slogan is right, it often does drive the passion! Avis ticked all the three boxes, and they were well on their way to scaring the heebie-jeebies out of Hertz. Notice how money—or the economic engine—isn’t really the focus of greatness? Money is important, that’s for sure. A company gasps and coughs it’s way into oblivion if it can’t fire up that economic engine. And yet, it’s more than clear that for most of us, at least, money is not the driving factor. All those website owners that show you how their income doubled and quintupled are still sitting on the same sofa; they’re still typing on that same yellowed keyboard. Yes, they may have doubled or quintupled the size of their house or boat, but when money becomes the only focus, there’s no time to enjoy the good stuff in life. Which is why the “best in the world” journey needs to start with what makes you deliriously happy. It’s the stuff that wakes you up and keeps you going, no matter what. Your work becomes your passion and the complete opposite of trying to outsource everything and doing as little as possible. Money helps enormously in getting you to your goal, but the passion and desire is what’s behind the wheel. And this is where confusion comes bouncing through the door When I quit my career in cartooning, I was doing very well indeed. I’d moved to New Zealand and despite being in a brand new market, the profit for the first year was $75,000. Picture me sitting at my computer, drawing cartoons, listening to music and then taking a nap and you get the idea. It wasn’t exactly like I was struggling to put food on the table. Still, the moment you decide you want to change things—the moment I decided I couldn’t beat “Calvin and Hobbes”, I was in trouble. I’m good at a lot of things. I whizz my way around Photoshop, I can cook exceedingly well, you’ve probably seen my food and travel photos on Facebook—and you’re getting an idea of the looming problem, aren’t you? The moment you can do more than one thing, you’re not sure where to go. The journey to greatness seems to run right into a pool of quicksand. So how do you get yourself out of this mess and back on track? I’d decided I didn’t want to do cartooning—at least at that point in time—and I wanted to take this leap into marketing. I didn’t know much about marketing, but that minor detail wasn’t keeping me up at night. Still, I was in a fog—after all marketing is this big, nameless, faceless profession and I hadn’t a clue what the journey to greatness was going to look like, or whether one existed at all. And that’s when I ran into a subset of marketing. A subset is what starts the journey to greatness My story was quite accidental—as yours may well be. I joined this networking group called BNI. We’d meet every Friday, enjoy breakfast and hand out referrals. And crucial as all this referral giving was to me at the time, one factor was even more pivotal to help me on my journey. BNI has this strange custom called “the dance”—as in “dancing with a partner”. In this so-called “dance”, you go across to visit another of the members. For instance, I might go and meet the real estate agent at her office. Or another week I might end up talking to the financial planner in the group. Being new and enjoying this extroverted behaviour, I binged on the “dance” I started meeting several members of the BNI group in relatively quick succession. They’d tell me what they did—often spending between 10-20 minutes explaining the details. Then I’d ponder over what they just said, and boil it down to a single line. In effect, I’d given them a tagline—a working tagline that would elicit curiosity and get their prospects interested. The first time I encapsulated their 20 minute speech into a single line, I wasn’t aware of what I was doing. Twenty or thirty tagline later, with everyone telling me how “great” I was at taglines, I decided to make that my entry point into marketing. I wasn’t going to be the best in the world at marketing—and no one can ever take such a title. But I could create a subset. And that’s because a subset is simpler than a well-laid out, world domination plan. Which means that you’re going to make a career out of teaching a program like InDesign, don’t take on every tool bar in the program. Just teach clients how to create an amazing e-book in under an hour. The Hedgehog Concept If you’re going to be the best in the world at WordPress sites, you’re headed for chaos. But take on a subset and you could be the designer that gets clients to their destination in just three steps. Even the all-time greats in the history of mankind—take Michelangelo for instance—he made the statue of David his subset. He was headed towards the magnificence of the Sistine Chapel in time, but to start on that journey of greatness, he had to take on carving just the statue of David. Once you deal with a subset, passion almost force-feeds you with energy Avis found its passion once it had the subset of “trying harder” instead of the grand scheme of “trying to do everything”. I found my subset quite by accident while taking on taglines. And the moment you streamline your idea into one tiny bit, you’ll get enormous control over that bit—and the passion faucet will begin to flow. You’ll read more about the subset, practice it longer and harder and it will take over your life. Which effectively means you’re done with two elements of the Hedgehog principle all at once. You have your passion—thanks to your subset—and it’s put you well and truly on the road to personal and professional greatness. That leaves just the looming question. Will it drive your economic engine? Will it pay the bills? And how soon? I didn’t know the answer to that question of the economic engine In fact, I did something very silly in my quest for “being the best in the world”. I quit cartooning—yup, just like that. One fine day, I decided I wasn’t going to do any cartoons. And then something extremely strange happened. No one called me for a cartoon project any more. Right until that moment I’d been filling that balance sheet with a decent profit, and suddenly I didn’t get a single call or e-mail for another cartoon project. Be aware that I was drawing stuff for ad agencies, magazine covers, local councils and private clients. And yet, it stopped almost as if I had taken a full page ad in the newspaper that said, “Sean D’Souza doesn’t want to draw cartoons any more. Stop bugging him.” My dream had come true, but I didn’t have a buffer. The buffer isn’t just money It’s also the buffer of knowledge and of confidence. Remember, I wasn’t a marketing guy, I was a cartoonist. That thought stays in your head and seriously undermines your confidence. Getting to the library, stacking up 30 books at a time was top priority. We’re talking about economic engines here, and knowledge plays a big role in how you get paid. Having the skills to run a business is what allows you to make that engine vroom. I had to teach myself how to write great articles, how to create compelling copy—and yes, how to speak. That buffer was important for my economic engine, but money played its role too. I jumped right into marketing and out of a business I’d spend a chunk of time beefing up on the learning and the skills. But I hadn’t considered the factor that everything takes time to turnaround. It was a rash move, and luckily Renuka had a decent job. That paid the bills, the mortgage and let me fumble forward toward this “greatest in the world” dream. Um, Renuka also quit her job and joined Psychotactics a few months later, but that buffer was all we needed. We were now on a trajectory to align ourselves with the Hedgehog Principle. Like Michelangelo, we had to carve one David at a time. Like Avis, we had to “try harder” one car at a time. We were passionate about what we did. And the clients started to trickle in. But the Hedgehog principle itself, isn’t enough Jim Collins stresses a second more important factor. In fact, he considers this second factor to be the most important of all the material he’s written over the years. It’s called: Preserving the core AND stimulating progress. Let’s find out just what this means for you and your small business. Preserve the Core AND Stimulate Progress Recently a client called Rosa wrote to us with a request. “I would have preferred to read the series on Dartboard Pricing in ePub,” she said. She made it clear it was a request, not a demand. Which brings up a whole new set of problems for us at Psychotactics. Most business books are designed with text in mind and may contain a few graphics. Our books aren’t designed that way at all. They have dozens of cartoons and under every cartoon is a caption. In The Brain Audit alone there are almost 100 cartoons and corresponding captions. In a PDF, this layout is easy-peasy. Create the book in InDesign and export it as a PDF and it maintains its design integrity. Try to do the same thing for an ePub and it’s like stepping in poo. It’s a tedious, frustrating process to get all the graphics to align the way they should The easier way is to just make a quick excuse, apologies and move on. After all, it isn’t like 90% of our audience is asking for an ePub. It’s just a stray request, isn’t it? It’s simple to ignore the request and get on with the important task of doing whatever it is we do. But that’s where the problem lies, doesn’t it? We’ve ignored the concept of progress. Almost all of us today read on a tablet or our phones. I know I do, my wife does, even my mother in law who ranted and raved about computers—she now loves her iPad. And PDFs work on tablet devices and phones, but they’re super clunky. Sadly that’s not the only problem Jim Collins talks about two elements: preserving the core and stimulating progress. And he goes to great lengths to stress the AND in between both of them. So all of us have to stand back and ask ourselves: What’s our core? The core of Psychotactics has been the factor of “consumption”. Any one can create attraction and conversion. It’s super-hard to get clients to consume what they’ve bought from you. Books, courses, workshops—we spend hours, days and weeks trying to figure out how to achieve a skill. The cartoons, the captions in the book—they’re not just a design concept. They’re placed there as memory hooks; as a method of summary. They need to be exactly where they are in the books and courses. We could remove them and easily create an ePub like most ePubs, but that would fit in with our core. Collins says it has to be an AND. We have to preserve the core AND stimulate progress. This principle is clearly frustrating and pulls in opposite directions. When you’re starting out, you don’t have any legacy issues in place. You create a business the way you want to shape it. And the core and the progress moves along nicely. It’s when you “grow up” that you have to worry about how all the past has to fit in with the future. The longer you’ve been in business, the greater the past, and the more the past has to merge with an ever changing future. Take Nokia for instance You can almost hear the sound of the Nokia ring, can’t you? In the early 2000s, all of us would have at one point in time run into, or owned a Nokia. Nokia was no slouch in realm of being super-progresssive. They were into paper, then electricity and bounced from there to rubber, galoshes and finally were the most dominant phone manufacturer on the planet. In the early 1990’s they had a clear and accurate vision of the future. They saw the coming of the cell phone, dumped all their businesses and stuck with the cell phone. And then, just for good measure, they invented the first smart phone. That amazing device you take photos with, use to find your way around and yes, make phone calls—Nokia was on the ball way back in 1996. They even built a prototype of an Internet-enabled phone at the end of the 90’s. And then they got stuck in a loop They failed to see the link between their core—which was to make really simple phones—and the future. The future was software. The core of their legacy was hardware. They spent millions of dollars turning out failure after failure. They believed so much in their hardware that they just couldn’t figure out the software issues. And down they went, ring and all, finally selling their company to Microsoft. To go from good to great we have to ask ourselves What’s the core of our business. What do we stand for? What will we never change, never compromise on—and yet how will we step into the future when it presents itself to us. Most of us rarely have a problem with core values. Once we’ve spent enough time in our business, we know what we stand for, but what we fail to prepare ourselves for is the oncoming storm. We keep doing things the way we’ve always done. The worst three words we repeat over and over, when faced with change is: I know that, I know that, I know that. I thought I knew a lot about podcasts After all I’d rode the early wave of podcasts when Apple first introduced them. And then in 2008/09 we decided to pull the plug on the podcast. When clients—and one client in particular—kept asking me to create a podcast, I’d ignore the comment. As far as I was concerned, podcasts were a thing of the past. I wasn’t ready to listen and the years ticked away while we busied ourselves with the core of what we’d always done. Today, the “Three Month Vacation” podcast is one of the biggest joys in my day I love writing, I love presentations, but it’s the podcast that connects me to a medium I love. And in turn the podcast connects us to our clients in ways that not possible on paper, or through books. The podcast is the closest we come to an offline workshop. But I wasn’t interested in the “future”. As far as I was concerned, podcasts were the distant past. And today we know those thoughts, that strategy was wrong. We see the enormous number of clients who find the podcast, then sign up to the newsletter. At our offline workshops over 50% of the audience listens religiously to the podcast. The podcast fit in so nicely with our core. And was the medium of the future. Even so, it’s not possible to chase every rainbow Technology moves ahead at a blinding pace. You can’t play with every new phenomenon. Which is why we have to go back to the Hedgehog principle. What can you be the best in the world in? What are you deeply passionate about? What drives your economic engine? In the subset of podcasting, we achieve all three. And this is what you’ll have to do as well. Find your core AND stimulate progress, with your eye always on the passion. The passion is what drives your business today and will continue to do so in the future. If you don’t wake up crazy with happiness, then you’re not headed towards greatness. It’s the reason I moved on from cartooning back in the early 2000s. I wasn’t waking up happy as a lark—and so I had to find something else. Which, interestingly, takes us to our third element: The hairy, audacious goal—oh, it’s big too. That makes it the BHAG (pronounced: bee-hag). The BHAG Until the moment Greig Bebner set to work on his kitchen table with a glue gun and some kite material, the basic design of the modern umbrella hadn’t changed since 1928. They come in all sorts of colours, shapes and fancy gizmos, but the core elements of the umbrella are the same—and they don’t work. The moment a gust of wind comes along, you hear cursing, then more cursing and finally the umbrella being thrown on the pavement. So Greg set about on a big, hairy, audacious goal—a BHAG. He wanted an umbrella that would stand up to the crazy wind and rain on One Tree Hill. Now if you’ve ever visited Auckland, New Zealand, you’re likely to have your hair tossed around wildly on a windy One Tree Hill day. It’s certainly no place to open an umbrella. Then to push that BHAG even further, he tested the Blunt at Force 12 (117 km/h) which is the maximum setting of the test wind tunnel. The umbrella stood up to the punishment with ease. But why did the umbrella work so flawlessly? It starts with the BHAG. It’s almost a Star Trek kind of goal—to go where no man gone before. It’s not a namby-pamby set of goals. It’s one overarching factor that scares the heebie-jeebies out of you as a business owner. A windy day on One Tree Hill in the middle of a storm. That’s a good testing ground for an umbrella. Sometimes this goal is restricted to your product, sometimes it’s a lot bigger. Like Akio Morita, the co-founder and former chairman of Sony Corporation. He was working on a revolutionary product called the Walkman. Until the Walkman was introduced on July 1, 1979. Until the Walkman showed up, portable music players were non-existent. Even though the Walkman stuttered with disappointing sales in the first month, it went on to sell over 400 million units. But Morita’s goal wasn’t just to sell a ton of Walkmans His goal was a lot loftier. Before Sony introduced a ton of extremely sophisticated equipment, Japan was considered to be a backward country. It was associated with paper parasols and shoddy imitations. Akio Morita wanted to turn that perception around so that “Made in Japan” commanded respect and was associated with high quality. And he succeeded, with Sony at the forefront of his BHAG. In 2014, A Harris poll showed Sony was the No. 1 brand name among American consumers, ahead of American companies like General Electric and Coca-Cola. At Psychotactics, we have a BHAG too The goal is to get rid of information for information sake and replace it with skill, instead. We’re drowning in information, and yet every book, every course brings even more information to the table. But is that what we really want? Or do we want the skill instead. We want to write articles, create sales pages, be able to sell at higher prices. We want to learn to cook, draw, paint or acquire skills that make us look, feel and be smarter. A BHAG has to be hairy, audacious, and bigger than anyone thinks possible. Starbucks had a BHAG too It was to open up a new Starbucks cafe every single day of the year. But soon enough, Starbucks was running into trouble. Can you see why? It’s big, hairy and audacious to open up a Starbucks every single day, but does it inspire any passion? Does it feel like you’re somehow changing the world you live in, let alone the world around you? The BHAG wasn’t to make Sony the star, but instead to make Japan and Japanese products top-notch once again. Every business should have a BHAG. Something that sits there in the corner challenging you to become better—not necessarily bigger—than you are. To create a Ferris Wheel or an Eiffel Tower. To create artworks of enduring magnificence as Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci and Rembrandt did. And the way to create that BHAG is to scare yourself. To know that everyone says there are things you’re not supposed to achieve. That these things are impossible. And yet, you do it, because it’s the most inspiring thing to do! Combined with the Hedgehog principle, preserving the core and stimulating progress, you have a system in place that can take your business from good to great. And even as you embark on this journey, you know that you will forever be on the road to making things better, not necessarily bigger, but always better. Better—it’s a great place to be! The action plan and summary coming in the next episode. Click here to listen to part 2:  Good to Great: How To Escalate The Path To Greatness http://www.psychotactics.com/path-to-greatness/

"First Who, the Hedgehog Concept, and Your Personal Trajectory"

Can You Be a Level 5 Leader without a Hedgehog Concept?

Can My Hedgehog Concept Help Provide Satisfaction with My Current Work?

How to Find Your Personal Hedgehog Concept

Great leaders know how to align the interests of their people with the interests of the business. This is an absolute must. When you don't have the right people in the right place, you can't attract core energy invested into what you're trying to accomplish. It becomes much more work. It becomes very difficult to get things done, because their passion, their joy is not aligned with the function. Jim Collins talks about this in the Hedgehog Concept. The number one thing he identified that separated companies that struggled or failed for companies that were amazing was how much passion the people had for what they did. Well, when you have an organization that doesn't align your people's passion with the functions or with the whole plan of the organization, then it becomes a struggle. Now, how do you do that? You have to spend time with each person working for you. You have to figure out how somebody can do something better than the person before. And that becomes your highest elevated success. Then you platform that, and you benchmark it. And that becomes your duplicable process that everyone strives to attain. Ask yourself a simple question. If Gallup poll says 100 million people, Americans that they surveyed last year, out of 100 million, 70 million said they're actively disengaged or disengaged at work. So if you have 10 people working for you, seven of the 10 have admitted they're actively disengaged or disengaged at work. That leaves you three people to build a business that's centered and has expenses for 10. Now, does that mean you have the wrong 10 people? Many times I will tell you, you might have a few that you probably should shake loose of but generally speaking, you have the right people. They're just not contributing in the right areas for your organization. And when you can take the people who have been there and that are passionate about you and passionate about working with you, but they're not finding the level of success they otherwise could have, it's because you haven't aligned the business interests with the passion and interest of the people who work for you. Therefore, everything seems to be so much harder. Do you have the right people doing the right things that add the highest value to your organization?

Great leaders know how to align the interests of their people with the interests of the business. This is an absolute must. When you don't have the right people in the right place, you can't attract core energy invested into what you're trying to accomplish. It becomes much more work. It becomes very difficult to get things done, because their passion, their joy is not aligned with the function. Jim Collins talks about this in the Hedgehog Concept. The number one thing he identified that separated companies that struggled or failed for companies that were amazing was how much passion the people had for what they did. Well, when you have an organization that doesn't align your people's passion with the functions or with the whole plan of the organization, then it becomes a struggle. Now, how do you do that? You have to spend time with each person working for you. You have to figure out how somebody can do something better than the person before. And that becomes your highest elevated success. Then you platform that, and you benchmark it. And that becomes your duplicable process that everyone strives to attain. Ask yourself a simple question. If Gallup poll says 100 million people, Americans that they surveyed last year, out of 100 million, 70 million said they're actively disengaged or disengaged at work. So if you have 10 people working for you, seven of the 10 have admitted they're actively disengaged or disengaged at work. That leaves you three people to build a business that's centered and has expenses for 10. Now, does that mean you have the wrong 10 people? Many times I will tell you, you might have a few that you probably should shake loose of but generally speaking, you have the right people. They're just not contributing in the right areas for your organization. And when you can take the people who have been there and that are passionate about you and passionate about working with you, but they're not finding the level of success they otherwise could have, it's because you haven't aligned the business interests with the passion and interest of the people who work for you. Therefore, everything seems to be so much harder. Do you have the right people doing the right things that add the highest value to your organization?