Hedgehog and the Fox

Please Reserve Value Judgements!

Archilochus

680 BC - 645 BC

• Plato, Hegel
• See the world through a single unifying vision
• Construct elaborate models
• Global Beliefs
• Problem Approach = apply organizing principles and theories.

• Aristotle, Shakespeare 
• See the world as complex and chaotic
• Comfortable with nuance and contradictions
• Local Beliefs
• Problems Approach = Observation and Data Collection

2 Distinct Cognitive Styles

• Foxes are fragmented and unorganized
• Foxes are contradictory.
• Foxes overcomplicate things.
• Look, fox, just trust the process.

• Hedgehogs can't deal with nuance. 
• Hedgehogs are Draconian.
• Hedgehogs are simplistic thinkers.
• Look, hedgehog, the answer depends on the context.

Common Critiques 

• Watts Humphrey
• Kent Beck
• Eric Ries

• Fred Brooks
• Steve McConnell
• Donald Knuth

Famous Industry Examples

• Be sensitive to cognitive styles
• Foxes want localized data
  • Data supporting THIS specific context
  • Prototypes
• Hedgehogs want globalized models
  • Explain Underlying Theory
  • Presentations

Coaching Takeaway