Official skill · Strategy
Hedgehog Concept check
Tests a company's focus against Good to Great's three circles (passion, best in the world, economic engine), picks one economic denominator, and writes a stop-doing list and flywheel. Use it when the team does many things moderately well.
AI skill
Have your AI find what your company should focus on, and what to stop
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Works in Claude, ChatGPT, and coding agents. On Team and Business, the official skill in your pod updates itself when we improve it.
When to use it
- The team does many things moderately well
- Before adding a product line, market or service
- Annual planning and a stop-doing list
What you give it
- Activities with their share of revenue and effort
- Results by line
- Where the company beats rivals, with evidence
- What people choose to work on
What you get
A three-circles table, one economic denominator, the overlap in one sentence, a stop-doing list, right-people gaps, and a flywheel with the first push.
How it works
- List the activities
- Fill the best-in-the-world circle
- Fill the economic engine circle
- Fill the passion circle
- Write the overlap
- Draft the stop-doing list
- Check the people
- Sketch the flywheel
Example
What you give it
We're a 22-person bike shop group with 3 stores in Lyon. Revenue last year: new bikes 58%, repairs and servicing 27%, rental for tourists 15%. Gross margin: new bikes 24%, servicing 61%, rental 38%. We win servicing customers from the big chains: our Google rating for servicing is 4.8 against their 3.9, and 40% of new bike buyers first came to us for a repair. Rentals are seasonal and two staff hate running them. Our mechanics run a free Saturday repair class that's full every week, nobody asked them to. On new bikes, Decathlon beats us on price.
What you get back (the start of it)
Hedgehog Concept check: Lyon bike shop group
Date: [date] · Owner: [check: owner]
Activities in the three circles
| Activity | Share of revenue / effort | Best in the world at? (field, evidence) | Drives the engine? | Passion? | In all three? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Servicing and repairs | 27% / [check: effort] | Yes, in Lyon: rating 4.8 vs the chains' 3.9 | Yes: 61% margin, and 40% of bike buyers start here | Yes: the mechanics run a full free class unasked | Yes |
| New bikes | 58% / [check] | No: Decathlon wins on price | Partly: 24% margin; sales follow servicing | [check] | No |
| Tourist rental | 15% / [check] | No evidence | 38% margin, seasonal | No: two staff dislike it | No |
Economic denominator
Chosen: gross profit per serviced customer per year — servicing has the best margin and leads to 40% of bike sales, so raising it lifts both lines [check: repeat-visit data]. Rejected: profit per store — it hides which line earns the money.
The rest of this output, the full steps and the checks the AI runs before it answers are in your pod once you add the skill.
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Changelog
- v1.0.0 · · First release.
Sources
- Jim Collins: The Hedgehog Concept (read 2026-11-04)
- Jim Collins: First Who, Then What (read 2026-11-04)
- Jim Collins: The Flywheel Effect (read 2026-11-04)
- Wikipedia: Good to Great (read 2026-11-04)