This post is part 4 of a 5 part series on my “Hedgehog Concept.” Previously I determined what my Hedgehog Concept was based on my positive attributes. Now I’ll lay out my plan of attack for developing my hedgehog even furthur.

It’s become very clear, now: I’m the best at helping people. Interestingly enough, Jim Collins’ website says “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 critical.” Having analyzed my three circles (best at, passionate about, economic engine) I feel I understand what I can be and have been the best at. Based on Collins’ descriptions I feel like I am genetically encoded to help people. Frankly, my ‘Council’ agrees with me. The eleven individuals who responded to my questions have given me the evidence to support this claim. After a few days of self-discovery I feel that I understand my Hedgehog Concept.

So what steps am I taking to develop my future given this new knowledge? First, I’ll continue to not only serve as an Executive on the board of Alpha Kappa Psi, but also serve as a leader to my peers, friends and community. Some of my favorite attribute descriptions had come from my friends who are fellow members of Alpha Kappa Psi: “In all honesty, I would have dropped the club last semester, but he is so inspirational that you just want to be around him and see what he is doing in the organization.” If I can continue to live and act as I have in the past I feel like I would be helping a substantial number of individuals. “You are great at standing back listening to every one’s side and then putting for a solution that usually brings together every one’s idea in one way or another.” Every semester 30 new pledges enter our group; I hope I can influence and benefit just one new friend every semester as much as I had last fall.

I also plan to develop my Hedgehog Concept in my professional life. I want to put myself in a position to help others and continually drive my “economic engine.” With that said, I’m not planning on running a technical support helpdesk; that’s not something I’m passionate about. I’d much rather help people develop solutions as best described in this response: “You are great at taking a situation that is chaotic and breaking it down into small pieces in order to make better sense of it. You are at your best when solving problems.” I whole-heartedly agree with that assessment and it excites me to think about the possibility of taking problems and creating solutions. Unfortunately, it’s hard to determine the steps to go from Point A to Point B; the important part is I now have a destination. If one were to look at a map of the United States they’d see dozens of routes to take in order to travel from California to New York. Sure, some may be better routes than others. But, as in my case, I think there will be a number of different paths that will present themselves; it’s up to me to choose which opportunities to take. Either way, I’ll make it to Point B.

Even thought I don’t know the exact steps required to develop my Hedgehog Concept at work, I know what I can do to develop it throughout my life. One thing I’ve always done is read books, magazines, and websites. These are some of my primary sources of knowledge; they’re an example of learning beyond formal education. In fact, I wouldn’t be as helpful as I am today without the self-motivation and initiative to keep reading and self-educating.

In the future, though, I’d like to move past reading what people have written to having conversations with the people writing the ideas. The more I read the more questions I have. I sometimes think “well, that doesn’t necessarily agree with X, and what about Y’s opinion, what about my opinion?” Instead of passively absorbing knowledge I someday would like to actively discover new knowledge. I want to get out and meet diverse people with intelligent opinions and ideas. I want to share my own, too. Again, I’m not sure how to go about achieving this. But, when I see the opportunities present themselves I’ll be consciously aware of them; I’m that much closer to reaching Point B.
[tags]hedgehog, development, improvement[/tags]