Hedgehog Concept

Jim Collins, author of Good to Great, developed the hedgehog concept. A company that goes from good to great has a deep understanding of the three intersecting circles. The key to the Hedgehog Concept is that it is an understanding of what you can be the best at.
1. What can you be the best in the world at- not only a competence
2. What drives your economic engine- effectively generate sustained and robust cash flow and profitability
3. What are you deeply passionate about-find and focus on the activities that ignite passion

The Hedgehog Concept can be applied to the individual as well. The top circle remains the same, but "what you can be the best in the world at" becomes what are you made to do and "what drives your economic engine" becomes can you make a living at it?

For companies, it takes an average of four years to get a Hedgehog Concept, but for me I've been developing mine for nearly my whole life. I am deeply passionate about science specifically health/medicine and helping people. I can also make a very good living at it. The third circle has not been established yet, because I haven't gotten far enough into my education to determine it. I am hoping that I can become a surgeon but if I'm not good enough, then I will figure out the specialty that I am made to do. I know I am made to be a doctor because I'm good at science/math and working with people.

The Organization

Organizational Culture

The ultimate source of an organization's culture is its founders. They create their envisioned culture by hiring/keeping employees who are on board with the vision, socializing said employees to their way of thinking, and acting as role models to internalize their beliefs within the employees. The founders keep their culture alive through selection practices, the actions of top management, and socialization methods.
Every organization's culture is different, and there is no "ideal culture" for everyone. An individual's personality plays a major role in what type of culture they want to be a part of. There are two broad categories of culture with one being formal, mechanistic, and structured while another is informal, flexible, and innovative. I took an assessment tool for what kind of culture I would prefer or thrive in. I ranked statements that dealt with preferences in the workplace including: I like the thrill and excitement from taking risks, I like being part of a team and having my performance assessed by team members. I scored a middle-ground number but closer to the informal, humanistic, flexible, and innovative culture side. These results resonate with me, because I know I could never have an office job that required me to sit in a cubicle and do the same thing everyday. I get bored very easily and don't like having to always follow strict rules, but I'm middle-ground because I know rules and formality are required for some aspects of working.

Now what?
In order for a person to find a job they love, they must first investigate what they want and need to prosper while at work and then they must research organizations that fit. A person who isn't matched with an organizational culture that fits their personality, they will be unhappy and will probably look for another job.

Group Dynamic

High Performance Teams

Dr. Howard Ladewig, Interim Department Head of Agricultural & Extension Education at Virginia Tech, has a history of taking organizations from good to great. He stated three requirements for high performance teams: knowledge, commitment, and the ability to get along. My class team is currently working on becoming a high performance team. We all are committed to getting good grades and completely a quality project. We stated these goals at the very beginning of the course to make sure that we were all on the same page. We get along rather nicely; we respect and trust each other. The area we need to work on is the knowledge requirement. This includes our knowledge of the text and general concepts, which will help us perform well on RAT's and our knowledge of the Collegiate Times organizational structure to help us understand their weak areas so for our project we can tell them how to improve. Improving our knowledge in these areas will increase our grades which is our main committed goal.

Now what?
When oragnizations are putting together teams to solve problems or to make decisions, putting all of the brightest people together isn't going to necessarily result in a high performing team. Meeting all three requirements is crucial to high performance; not one requirement is more important than another.

Motivation

There are several theories of motivation, but I can identify the most with the Expectancy Theory. The expectancy theory states that the strength of a tendency to act in a certain way depends on the strength of an expectation that the act will be followed by a given outcome and on the attractiveness of that outcome to the individual. Our motivation directs our effort and determines our performance which leads to our desired outcome.

During my leadership team's meeting, we all stated that we wanted to get a good grade on our observational review and to do so we needed to perform quality work punctually. So, our motivation is to get a good grade, our effort/performance is based on our interviews, observations, and punctuality. If we perform these tasks then we will get our desired outcome.

Now What?
Motivate people to do something by showing them something desirable, indicating how straightforward it is to get it, and then supporting their self-belief that they can get there.

Good People then Action

Jim Collins shared in his book Good to Great his flywheel of transformations from good to great. His theory of First Who...then What, really stuck with me. I feel that normally people concern themselves with what they want to accomplish and then get a team together. I agree that who you're working with to accomplish whatever goal you have is the most important. As people always say, you are who you hang out with. Even though working toward transforming a company isn't exactly hanging out, the principle is the same. You want people who share your vision, have a strong work ethic, and are critical thinkers. No matter how fool proof your vision is, if you don't have the right people working with you, the result will not be the best it can be. The trouble is finding the right people, but there are ways to find and keep good people. The leader can also take good people and help them develop into great people to work with.

Nancy Barry is a perfect example of someone who learned the hard way, first who...then what. She is an American banking executive who has said that during her rise there was at least 10%
people who fought aganist her and she regrets not firing them.

Now what?
Company heads/leaders need to focus on getting the right people into their company/organization by spending more time interviewing and even creating mock problems that they'd have to work through with their fellow team members. Team members are the deciding factor on the result of the transformation, so picking the team members should take a great deal of time and effort.