Beware of the Hedgehog Strategy

Ali Anani

I dedicate this presentation to a dear

and idea-triggering friend

To

Guarav Mishra

Hedgehog teaches us to focus

Have one core value and use it

effectively

The fox has never caught a hedgehog

hedgehog’s Approach

Adopting the hedgehog strategy

might send business in

chaos

The thorns serve the system and the system serves the thorn. They work together and serve each other. The ball shape reduces the outside area and the thorns target their enemy better. It is the whole in the thorns and thorns in the whole.

But

That is NOT enough

Hedgehogs know how to curl up. They still need to know when to open up

Residual fear keep

hedgehogs in the stressing

ball form

So are organizations

Fear closes organizations up from emerging opportunities if it lasts long.Fear also stresses the organization

The bullet proof

Kodak did not fail because it missed the digital age. It actually invented the first digital camera in 1975. However, instead of marketing the new technology, the company held back for fear of hurting its lucrative film business, even after digital products were reshaping the market.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/avidan/2012/01/23/kodak-failed-by-asking-the-wrong-marketing-question/

Kodak bosses buried their heads in the sand of hibernation. The crystal quartz turned into sinking sand

It is not enough to roll up in

past success

It is more important to avoid the irrelevance of the core business

Business tend to wrap up in the ball of past successes

The Other Side of Innovation

Physical Trap

Psychological Trap

Strategic Trap

Avoid the trap of past successes

http://tommakau.com/2011/03/30/why-great-companies-fail/

Successful Hibernation

Hedgehogs hibernate

Businesses do

Stress of defending strains the body and it shows symptoms of hibernation

Stress of defending strains companies

Business Is like A hedgehog: Hibernation is not the solutionHaving one core strategy is unforgivable unless the company has high adaptability; else hibernate and die like a hedgehog

When do hedgehogs hibernate?

The timing of hibernation does depend on many

things including the weather. When it gets

very cold, they will hibernate (if they are

fit and fat enough) because their natural food disappears in the

cold weather.

Likewise; companies

hibernate in the chilly winter of

demand retraction

No hibernation Winter hibernation Full hibernation

Do not scare the customers. This way they might curl up and point their gulls towards you

Fearful customers will see you as a threat

Having a core business is NOT enough for growth or survival

Learning from the past to shape the future is the

solution