In the software engineering market, it’s far easier to sell yourself as a hedgehog than as a fox.
“The fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one big thing.” – Archilochus
Some folks simply want to hire hedgehogs for labor: Say I have a spec and I want a .NET developer to implement it. I need someone who knows one big thing, how to do a certain kind of work.
Some folks want to hire hedgehogs for expertise, often specialized technical experience. Let’s say I’m worried about security of my software product. I might bring in someone with deep knowledge of security to advise me on that topic in particular. Again, someone who knows one big thing.
Some folks want to hire foxes for …let’s say “consultation”. Maybe “general advice”. Or “a different perspective”. After all, “the fox knows many things”. In a bad situation, when I can’t see a solution (or when I can’t see the problem), I might bring in a fox to help me. A fox might challenge my thinking. A fox might help me question my assumptions or priorities. A fox might remind me to look at the bigger picture.
Here’s the problem with being a fox, though: Nobody knows you’re a fox.
You can easily put hedgehog qualifications on a resume. When you put “10 years JavaScript development experience” on your CV, that’s a hedgehog thing. “One big thing.” As a technical skill, it’s much more verifiable, much more concrete, and much more sellable. The market for it is large and visible.
The breadth offered by a fox is much harder to get across. I don’t know if you’re a fox until I see you acting like a fox. “10 years strategic thinking experience” is not a thing. Nor is “command of a variety of mental models and tools for thinking”.
Here’s another problem with being a fox: Most of the time, people don’t think they need a fox. Even when a fox is exactly what they need. You can’t help people if they don’t want your help. And those people certainly aren’t going to pay you or go looking for you.
A good fox can be very valuable, but it’s difficult for that value to be realized.
(BTW: Check out Erik Dietrich’s post A Taxonomy of Software Consultants for further discussion of the three hiring situations I mentioned, minus the fox/hedgehog analogy, and plus some thoughts on the unfortunate use of the term “consultant” for all three roles.)
