The Hedgehog Concept
8/4/2011
Some of you have read Jim Collins' superb book entitled "Good to Great." In the book, Jim describes the Hedgehog Concept where the great companies surface and sustain themselves through the understanding and application of three mutually supporting concepts. Below, I list the three concepts and apply them to Riverside:
1. What can Riverside be the best in the world at? Answer: Military college preparatory school education
2. What drives Riverside's economic engine? Answer: Recruiting + retention = enrollment
3. What is Riverside deeply passionate about? Answer: A values-based, character developing, and academically rigorous wholistic form of education that develops citizen leaders to serve selflessly in a free Republic.
Even if you read "Good to Great," you probably have not seen Jim Collins' subsequent monograph, "Good to Great and the Social Sectors." This monograph so conforms to my philosophy relating to enrollment management and fundraising and how in time, enrollment and fundraising grow exponentially once cadet, parent, and alumni satisfaction with facilities, programs, and staffing are clearly headed in the right direction. According to Jim Collins, "By focusing on your Hedgehog Concept (1,2, and 3 above), you build results. Those results, in turn, attract resources and commitment, which you use to build a strong organization. The strong organization then delivers even better results, which attracts greater resources and commitment, which builds a stronger organization, which enables even better results. People want to feel the excitement of being involved in something that just flat works. When they begin to see tangible results - when they can feel the flywheel beginning to build speed - that's when most people line up to throw their shoulders against the wheel and push." More and more, I am hearing the positive feedback from parents and alumni that make me sense that they are more willing to throw their shoulders against the wheel and push. It is the role of the Academy president, the Board of Trustees, and the office of advancement to facilitate that push. The publication of the alumni magazine, the establishment of the Board of Visitors, and the enhanced activity of the Alumni Council are additional arrows in our quiver for success. Instinctively, I feel that we are approaching the point of exponential growth in enrollment and fundraising that will propel us forward as we seek to take this Academy to a place it may never have been. That place is recognition that Riverside is the American gold standard for military college preparatory school education.