From the Dieselization experience it is
stated that while there are many victims
of such progressive developments there
are also winners. Some of the losers are
those people who are well established
and heavily invested in the traditional
sectors affected, churches also lose flocks
and some would close. Families and
community based people also lose. But
Nomads win as they can easily relocate
which also apply to younger people who
are heavily mobile.
Why the Foxes Win against
Hedgehogs in a Disrupted
World
In his signature essay Isaiah Berlin
divided the world into Hedgehogs and
Foxes, based on Greek saying that a fox
knows many things while a hedgehog
knows one big thing. As the saying
suggests the hedgehog lives on the hedge
and build its life around the fence. On the
other hand the fox actually has a diversity
in its portfolio hence the phrase, “as
cunning as a fox”.
It is said that sometimes a fox forgets
where its tail is and it can be seen looking
for it. I also know that a fox can eat the
farmer’s sugarcane if it can’t access the
chicken. Since brands and corporations
have personality it follows that they may
also portray Hedgehog or fox tendencies.
Jim Collins in the Book Good to Great
opined that both hedgehogs and foxes
have created great businesses. He created
the Hedgehog concept and indicated that
most Good to Great Companies follow
the concept. It involves a business model
that has three ideologies one is what you
are passionate about, the second one is
what you can be best at and the third one
is your economic engine.
At the point of intersection of the three
circles is a Good to Great Company. He
seems to suggest that foxy companies
lacked clarity and failed to thrive.
Away from Jim Collins, I think foxes will
win in a highly disrupted world. This is
mainly because of not having a settling
mentality and because of their adaptable
nature. By knowing many things it means
that a fox can navigate from one world to
another seamlessly.
Multiskilling is an important thing to
have in the world we are living in but it
seems we need to take care of the risk of
lacking clarity and ask the right questions
that would bring the best of both worlds
in results.
We need that ability to shift when
the ground shifts because as they say
nowadays, “Kwa Ground vitu ni different”
Swahili for “on the ground things are
different”.
Boniface Ngahu is a seasoned
marketing research expert and
runs the Talking Point column in
Marketing Africa magazine. He
is the Marketing Director of SBO
Research. You can commune with
him on this or related matters via
email at: BNgahu@sboresearch.
co.ke, or follow him on Twitter @
bngahu