Jim Collins introduced me to Berlin's The Hedgehog and the Fox essay. He uses Berlin's classification scheme to illustrate one of the principles that he has found leads to strong performance by successful companies. Berlin uses the concept of the fox, who knows many things, and the hedgehog, who knows one big thing, to classify the perspective of several writers. I like to use the idea of the fox and the hedgehog to direct my reading and career development activities. I've been torn on whether it's better to gain deeper knowledge of one subject or to follow my curiosity as it jumps from one subject to another.
I recently realized that I don't have to fully commit to one extreme or the other. I can embrace my expertise in one big thing while reaching out into areas that will allow me to use that expertise in other arenas. Can I be a spiky fox?
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