http://ceciliaweckstrom.com/2006/07/07/humble_leaders_/ Creative thinking unlocked. Fri, 30 Dec 2011 10:12:44 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ http://ceciliaweckstrom.com/2006/07/07/humble_leaders_/#comment-354 Sat, 08 Jul 2006 11:22:27 +0000 http://ceciliaweckstrom.com/2006/07/07/humble_leaders_/#comment-354 Thank you for bringing this to my attention. It seems Collins’ use of metaphor here may be a little skewed. However, I recommend reading his original article, referenced earlier in this post as I get the feeling he uses the hedgehog and fox-concept to illustrate the commitment to the cause showed by the level 5 leaders he came across in his study.
It may very be that Berlin thought higher of the foxes than the hedgehog as to my mind fanaticism comes to mind when you explain the hedgehog in the context of Berlin’s essay and that may very well also be at the heart of what Collins means when trying to explain the conviction that drives these leaders.
Thanks for your input and here’s the link to the wikipedia articles you mention:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaiah_Berlin
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hedgehog_and_the_Fox

]]> http://ceciliaweckstrom.com/2006/07/07/humble_leaders_/#comment-352 Fri, 07 Jul 2006 22:50:02 +0000 http://ceciliaweckstrom.com/2006/07/07/humble_leaders_/#comment-352 The use of Hedgehog and Foxes in this post is at direct odds to what Isaiah Berlin was talking about.
Berlin’s Hedgehog was a metaphor for zealtory and single-mindedness – only the Fox could accept the presence of things outside his ideology.
I will quote wikipedia – but recommend reading the entire essay. Its clear that Berlin thought higher of Foxes than Hedgehogs.
He then contrasts Tolstoy to other authors and intellectuals of his time, called hedgehogs, who frequently displayed a fanatical adherence to one big idea, at the exclusion of possible objections and alternatives to that idea.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hedgehog_and_the_Fox

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