All my life, I wanted a tattoo sleeve and
finally, in my middle age, I am doing it.
I love the current art - which was done by
Patrick at Chronic Ink and is in the style
of watercolor - and I love where it’s going,
but the other day, a friend of mine asked
me this about the tattoo:
What’s with the fox?
'What does the fox say?
Ring-din-ding-ding' Ylvis
So, while explaining to her the significance
of the fox, I realized that it's probably a
relevant story for anyone interested in 
being Truly Social.
The story that led me to tattooing a fox on
my body is a story that actually
helped me find my own story.
So today, I’m going to tell the story of
the Fox and the Hedgehog, as it was introduced
to me by Nate Silver, founder of FiveThirtyEight.org,
author of The Signal and the Noise, and a
data geek I am a huge fan of.
'We're not worthy, we're not worthy!'
Wayne's World
My name is Tara and this is
...Truly Social.
“The fox knows many things, but the hedgehog
knows one big thing.”
This quote really jumped at me while reading
Silver’s book.
He took this quote from the Greek poet Archilochus,
whose quote was turned into a popular essay
by Isaiah Berlin.
Silver describes the analogy like this:
“writers and thinkers can be divided into
two broad categories:
Hedgehogs are type A personalities who believe
in Big Ideas—in governing principles about
the world that behave as though they were
physical laws and undergird virtually every
interaction in society.
Think Karl Marx and class struggle, or Sigmund
Freud and the unconscious.
Or Malcolm Gladwell and the “tipping point.”
Foxes, on the other hand, are scrappy creatures
who believe in a plethora of little ideas
and in taking a multitude of approaches toward
a problem.
They tend to be more tolerant of nuance, uncertainty,
complexity, and dissenting opinion.
If hedgehogs are hunters, always looking out
for the big kill, then foxes are gatherers.”
Hedgehogs have answers.
They are certain.
People love listening to hedgehogs, because
they make them feel safe and stable.
Hedgehogs will say, “If you do this every
time, you will be successful.”
and “Here are the immutable laws of X, Y
and Z.”
“He’s got a point!”
“No he doesn’t!”
Always Sunny in Philadelphia
Hedgehogs get hired and promoted and quoted
and lauded broadly.
But as Silver points out in his book, 
this is really dangerous.
Their certainty sounds solid and feels good,
but because they aren’t always right -
nobody can be, especially
when outside of their core expertise - their
certainty can lead us very astray.
Foxes, on the other hand, won’t give you
much comfort.
If you ask them what the answer is to solving
a big issue in the world, they’ll scoff
and tell you that there isn’t one answer.
They might even say things like, “Well,
it depends on all the factors.”
Foxes thrive on complexity and distrust conventional
wisdom.
Foxes don’t believe in formulas or best
practices or immutable laws.
It takes a fox longer to make a decision because,
well, there are so many things to consider.
"Why a fox? Why not a horse or a beetle or 
a bald eagle?
I'm saying this more like existentialism,
you know." Fantastic Mr. Fox
But at the end of the day, answers to our
biggest questions ARE complex.
Comfort or not, we need the foxes.
Silver’s main point was that certainty is
NOT what we should be seeking.
And this is where I had the lightbulb moment.
*whistle click* Fantastic Mr. Fox
Marketing is riddled with people seeking certainty.
Everyone wants THE answer
“The answer to what?”
“The answer to life, the universe, EVERYTHING!”
“Hmmmm, we’ll have to think about that.”
The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy
...even though time and time again, we see
that there isn’t a single answer to how
you reach your audience or what people will
respond to.
If there was, EVERYONE would be successful.
Right?
One single answer wasn’t the case in the 
early days of marketing and it
especially isn’t the case nowadays.
You want the formula to success?
The secrets of “growth hacking”?
The sure-fire answer to your marketing
woes?
The best practices for doing a, b and c?
“Tell me. I'm ready. I want to know.”
Indiana Jones 4.
That hedgehog will tell you exactly what you
want to hear.
Will it be actually useful or the answer or
lead you to where you want to go?
Probably not.
“Then what good are you?”
League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
Foxes, on the other hand, will dive deep into
the research and your particular situation
and audience to see if there are some
better routes or directions to take.
They won’t do it in a quick brainstorming
session in a boardroom, though.
And they’ll be the first to tell you that
you’ll most likely have to adjust your plan
along the way to account for all of the 
new factors that are coming along.
I got the fox tattooed on my arm with pride.
Yeah, sometimes I sound like a hedgehog because,
well, I know that’s what people want, but
in reality, I’m as fox as it gets.
“Really? Tell me about it.”
Fantastic Mr. Fox
So there you go.
That’s the story of the fox and the hedgehog
and how it relates to the world I love
to work in - marketing and connecting
with human beings.
So, what about you?
Are you a fox who wants to be a hedgehog?
A hedgehog who wants to be a fox?
A fox with a hedgehog edge?
A hedgehog with foxy tendencies?
Let me know in the comments.
And for more fox-like content, please subscribe
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come out.
My name is Tara and this has been
...Truly Social.
