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Go deep on a few things
How hedgehogs behave
Hedgehogs keep their noses to the ground and stay in tune with reality, because for them it is a matter of survival. They accept that luck and plenty of other things are beyond their control, and they keep moving forward. They don't care what is hot, who is at the cocktail parties, or what anyone thinks of their work, and if everybody thinks it is dumb they keep doing it anyway.
Learning through depth
Depth is how they learn. Google interviews ask candidates to explain something they know, such as how a violin makes sound, and keep digging to see whether the person was curious enough to dive in. Feynman made the same point about a rose: knowing its name isn't knowing the rose, and examining how it grows and where it comes from leads toward understanding how the universe works. Hedgehogs learn this way to serve their life's work, not to impress anybody.
Walton's endless questions
Sam Walton hosted visitors from Brazil, possibly people tied to 3G Capital, and kept asking them question after question until he had drawn out everything they knew, even though their businesses were not as great as Walmart. In one story, he walked into Costco with a tape recorder, taking notes to himself, until a security guard confiscated it. Sol Price eventually returned the recorder, and Walton learned a great deal from him.
Where does the hedgehog idea come from?
The image traces to a line attributed to the ancient Greek poet Archilochus: the fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one big thing. Philosopher Isaiah Berlin used it as the title of his 1953 essay The Hedgehog and the Fox, which sorted thinkers into those who relate everything to one central vision and those who pursue many goals. Business writer Jim Collins revived it in his 2001 book Good to Great. He used it to describe leaders who focus on one simple concept.
Did Feynman really say science deepens beauty?
In a 1981 BBC interview often called Ode to a Flower, physicist Richard Feynman described an artist friend who said scientists take a flower apart and spoil its beauty. Feynman answered that he could appreciate its beauty as well, and that knowing its cells and its processes added to the wonder. He argued that scientific understanding adds mystery and excitement to a flower. The interview is part of the BBC Horizon series.
Why did Sam Walton study competitors so closely?
In his 1992 autobiography Made in America, Walton wrote that he borrowed most of his ideas from other retailers and visited competitors' stores constantly. He credited the Price Club, founded by Sol Price in San Diego in 1976, as an inspiration for Sam's Club. Sam's Club opened in 1983 in Midwest City, Oklahoma. Price Club later merged with Costco in 1993.
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