Is your business intelligence strategy “foxy”?
“The fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one big thing” is an old phrase originally attributed to the Greek poet Archilochus in 700 B.C.
Experts Tied to One Big Idea
How does this worldview translate into the modern world of business intelligence? Prominent data forecaster Nate Silver asked readers to be “more foxy” in his 2012 best-seller “The Signal and the Noise.” Silver, who left The New York Times for ESPN after wide recognition for his predictions in the last 2012 presidential elections, even incorporated a logo of a fox into his FiveThirtyEight website.
Silver drew upon the work of psychologist Philip Tetlock, who studied expert political predictions. Tetlock found “that foxy, flexible, pluralistic experts were much more accurate than the experts with one big hedgehog idea.” One example: American intelligence officials missed the signals of a collapsing Soviet Union because of a monolithic view of their longtime adversary.
According to Silver, big data “has not yet translated into widespread gains in economic conditions, human welfare or technological growth. Some individual companies and industries, and some branches of science, have employed data in constructive ways. But ‘Moneyball’ stories are more the exception than the rule.”
“Moneyball,” of course, tells the story of how data analytics brought success to a major-league baseball team.
Different Schools of Thought
Silver also referenced the work of philosopher Sir Isaiah Berlin, who explored the differing schools of thought in his 1953 essay, “The Hedgehog and the Fox.” Berlin built upon the fox vs. hedgehog perspectives to divide writers and thinkers into two categories. Plato, Dante and Dostoevsky were, in essence, hedgehogs, seeing the world through a single defining idea. Foxes? Berlin included Aristotle, Shakespeare and James Joyce.
Of course, there are the poor souls, in Berlin’s view, who tried to be hedgehog and fox. Russian novelist Leo Tolstoy fell into that trap, according to Berlin, as his talents reflected the view of a fox but his core beliefs were hedgehog. Berlin wrote that this conflict created great pain for Tolstoy at the end of his life.
Going Full ‘Hedgehog’
Which brings us back to the challenges in business. The Wall Street Journal used the fox vs. hedgehog theme last year in reporting on McDonald’s and Wendy’s ongoing fast-food war. From the post:
“McDonald’s, the fox in this scenario, has been firing multiple shots in all directions to stay on top in the fast-food wars. In the last year alone it launched chicken wings, fish nuggets, bacon habanero ranch burgers and a line of wraps, among many other things. Wendy’s on the other hand, went full hedgehog — but instead of curling up into a spiky protective ball, it doubled down on its core burger lineup and introduced a very successful twist: the pretzel bun.”
McDonald’s, according to the story, experienced customer service issues after introducing too many products too soon.
A successful business strategy depends on leveraging data for strong business intelligence on market trends and the competition. Being “foxy” means being adaptive to the constantly changing landscape. However, that strategy can only come with a full understanding of a company’s own core competencies.
That doesn’t mean retreating into a “spiky protective ball.” Real-time analytics and data visualizations can make a company truly foxy.
Learn how Izenda’s real-time reports, dashboards and data visualizations can enhance your business intelligence strategy.
