Disclaimer:
This is a short story that I came across that really intrigued me and want to share it with you all. By the end of this article, I encourage you all to get insights from this post, that will help you with your coding journey.
Ask yourself:
before we dive into the story, ask this question to yourself. If you were given a chance to be a fox 🦊 or hedgehog 🦔, which one would you chose?
Obviously the FOX! 🦊 Fox is so beautiful, sleek, and cunning. On the other hand, Hedgehogs are slow, timid, and not so interesting.
Read this story:
The fox is a cunning creature, able to devise a myriad of complex strategies for sneak attacks upon the hedgehog. Every day, the fox circles around the hedgehog’s den, waiting for the perfect moment to pounce. Fast and crafty—the fox looks like the sure winner. The hedgehog, on the other hand, waddles along, going about his simple day, searching for lunch, and taking care of his home.
The fox waits in cunning silence at the juncture in the trail. The hedgehog, minding his own business, wanders right into the path of the fox. “Aha, I’ve got you now!” thinks the fox. He leaps out, bounding across the ground, lightning-fast. The little hedgehog, sensing danger, looks up and thinks, “Here we go again. Will, he ever learn?” Rolling up into a perfect little ball, the hedgehog becomes a sphere of sharp spikes, pointing outward in all directions.
The fox, bounding toward his prey, sees the hedgehog defense and calls off the attack. Retreating back to the forest, the fox begins to calculate a new line of attack. Each day, some version of this battle between the hedgehog and the fox takes place, and despite the greater cunning of the fox, the hedgehog always wins.
Moral:
🦊 The FOX
Foxes pursue many ends at the same time and see the world in all its complexity. They are scattered or diffused, moving on many levels never integrating their thinking into one overall concept or unifying vision.
🦔 The Hedgehog
Hedgehogs, on the other hand, simplify a complex world into a single organizing idea, a basic principle or concept that unifies and guides everything. It doesn’t matter how complex the world, a hedgehog reduces all challenges and dilemmas to simple—indeed almost simplistic— hedgehog ideas. For a hedgehog, anything that does not somehow relate to the hedgehog idea holds no relevance.
Ask yourself again.
Am I a fox 🦊 or a hedgehog 🦔 ? My thoughts are fox-like or hedgehog-like?
Conclusion:
The hedgehog, despite the fox's cleverness, does one thing imperially well — it knows how to defend itself. If a hedgehog and fox were to compete, the hedgehog would be the fairer. But taken figuratively, hedgehog thinking draws from a central vision and foxes search for seemingly unrelated or even contradictory pursuits. The origin of the "fox or hedgehog" concept is unclear, and interpretations have changed over the years.
Princeton professor Marvin Bressler pointed out the power of the hedgehog and said: “You want to know what separates those who make the biggest impact from all the others who are just as smart? They’re hedgehogs.”
The take-backs:
Don't try to do a lot of things at once. Don't get distracted. Be the master of one, rather than a jack of all trades. Don't compare yourself.
Are you ready to be a hedgehog, mark your goals, and smash them?
keep learning, keep coding, keep growing. 🌸