Hedgehog Concept check
OfficialOfficial · updated Nov 4, 2026 · v1.0.0
Tests a company's focus against Good to Great's three circles (passion, best in the world, economic engine), picks one economic denominator, and writes a stop-doing list and flywheel.
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When to use it
- The team does many things moderately well
- Before adding a product line, market or service
- Annual planning and a stop-doing list
What you give it
- Activities with their share of revenue and effort
- Results by line
- Where the company beats rivals, with evidence
- What people choose to work on
What you get
A three-circles table, one economic denominator, the overlap in one sentence, a stop-doing list, right-people gaps, and a flywheel with the first push.
Changelog
- v1.0.0 · Nov 4, 2026 · First release.
Sources
- Jim Collins: The Hedgehog Concept (2026-11-04)
- Jim Collins: First Who, Then What (2026-11-04)
- Jim Collins: The Flywheel Effect (2026-11-04)
- Wikipedia: Good to Great (2026-11-04)
Related skills
- VRIO resource analysis Tests each resource and capability for Value, Rarity, Imitability, and Organization with evidence, gives each a competitive implication, and turns the verdicts into owned actions.
- Strategy kernel Writes a one-page strategy kernel (diagnosis, guiding policy, coherent actions) and tests it, or an existing plan, for the four signs of bad strategy.
- Generic strategy choice Chooses one of Porter's generic strategies on evidence, checks the stuck-in-the-middle risk, and writes the trade-offs the choice forces.
- Durable advantage check Tests each claimed moat for a benefit and a barrier, sorts it into one of seven types of durable advantage, matches it to the company's stage, and says what to build now.