Shared understanding in business and the social sectors

In Good to Great(2001) and Good to Great and the Social Sectors (2005), Jim Collins argues that great companies pursue what he calls a “hedgehog concept” – a simple clear conception of how to attain long-term results – and use it to guide all aspects of their operations. (He uses the term “hedgehog” to bring to mind the animal’s simple, successful, and ingenious strategy of rolling into a ball to avoid predators.) Collins suggests that great organizations embrace hedgehog concepts that reflect a deep understanding of:

(1) what they are passionate about
(2) what they can be the best in the field at
(3) what drives their economic engine (if they are a business) or how to generate needed resources (if they are an organization in the social sector).