Are you wondering what the future holds for your business? Whether you need to predict your future or prescribe an outcome of your choosing, you'll have plenty of company!
Throughout history, they humans have tried lots of ways to predict the future, from reading palms to stargazing. Today, they refer to these as descriptive methods when they attempt to explain objectively what the future will be or could be.
On the other hand, prescriptive methods focus on determining what the future should be. These techniques can help us clarify our preferences and values so they can generate a vision of what they would like to see in our lives, businesses, or communities.
Once they comprehend what they would like the future to represent, we're better able to take the actions required to implement it. Ideally, that future will align with our passions, gifts, and what they (or our companies) can be the best at doing. This article suggests a two-stage process for achieving that objective.
First, Identify Your "Hedgehog Concept"
So, what can you be the best in the world (or at least in your community) at doing? This thought-provoking reflection is two of lots of from Jim Collins' "Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap...and Others Don't."
Of five characteristics these companies shared, all held an unshakable adherence to becoming the best in the world at whatever they did. Each company committed to doing only those things and nothing else. That sometimes meant dropping their core businesses to pursue other things at which they could become the best in the world.
Collins' team examined 1,435 companies to see which ones made substantial gains in profitability and sustained those improvements over 15 years or more. Since the 1970s, only 11 companies had risen from mediocrity to greatness and stayed there -- topping lots of other prosperous firms that lacked the same staying power.
1) What you're most passionate about
2) An understanding of what you could be the best at doing, and
3) A metric that drives your economic engine and helps you measure results.
Collins and his team coined the term "hedgehog concept" to reflect a single-minded determination and focus that, similar to that of the hedgehog animal, attempts to do only two thing well, such as curl up and roll. A hedgehog concept actually represents the intersection of two areas:
Keep in mind that according to Collins, this concept is not a aim, strategy, or plan, but an understanding of what you can and can't be the best at doing. Until you create your hedgehog concept, you won't know your true vision, mission, or purpose.
Next, Define Your "Business Success Criteria"
Do you have a crystal clear idea of the types of business undertakings that align with your gifts, talents, passions, and strengths? In that same context, have you thought about whether your business can be the best in the world at doing those things?
If the answers are "yes," you are in an excellent position to pick the ventures that can give you the greatest satisfaction and results.
Why is this so important? It's not uncommon for people to wander into businesses, projects, and professions opportunistically, which means that they often select the next obtainable and convenient thing that comes along. At times, this may be necessary for financial reasons. But unless they comprehend our underlying success criteria, they might not recognize the options that truly fuel and inspire us -- those that are best suited to our passions and strengths.
If you're not yet clear about the answers to these questions, developing a set of "business success criteria" can enable you to select worthwhile endeavors with much deeper insight, and thus set the conditions for successfully pursuing them. A hedgehog concept thereby represents part of the formula you can devise to identify and pick among your best options.
In conclusion, a set of carefully crafted success criteria fueled by a potent hedgehog concept provides an unbeatable strategic advantage, and an excellent direction-finder for prescribing your future!
a number of your criteria could be practical considerations, and others more lofty ideals. But all of your criteria will be essential to achieving balance, fulfillment, prosperity, and higher contribution in your life.
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