Lions, Mice and Antelope

The book Tools Of Titans features a wonderful analogy from Newt Gingrich:

A lion is fully capable of capturing, killing, and eating a field mouse.
But it turns out that the energy required to do so exceeds the caloric content of the mouse itself.
So a lion that spent its day hunting and eating field mice would slowly starve to death.

A lion can’t live on field mice.
A lion needs antelope.
Antelope are big animals.
They take more speed and strength to capture and kill, and once killed, they provide a feast for the lion and her pride.
A lion can live a long and happy life on a diet of antelope.
The distinction is important.
Are you spending all your time and exhausting all your energy catching field mice?
In the short term it might give you a nice, rewarding feeling.
But in the long run you’re going to die.
So ask yourself at the end of the day, “Did I spend today chasing mice or hunting antelope?”

The parable applies to our work and our lives - the decision to pursue the big opportunities instead of the small.
For a business, an antelope might be a high value customer, a lucrative partner, a major distributor or a star recruit.
Antelope know that they are attractive to lions, and won’t go seeking them out.
If you’re running a small business, other companies won’t be falling over themselves to work with you, hence why you’re on the prowl.
Catching an antelope takes skill, patience, and sometimes more than one lion; there’s no guarantees of success, but you can certainly improve your odds.
Each antelope you catch makes a difference, and you’ll get better at it over time.

A business owner has some interesting considerations here:

The first consideration is whether or not you’re interested in hunting mice at all.
Newt Gingrich is right, mouse hunting isn’t sustainable, but it can help solve an immediate hunger and keep you going while the antelope are away.
This is especially true for a young lion, who benefits from being able to catch anything at all while they learn how to hunt.
You might also find that the mice lead you to more antelope – I’m working with a few businesses whose smaller customers are acting as evangelists,
They introduce the entrepreneur to their boss and colleagues, who are often much bigger customers that were previously inaccessible.

The second consideration is whether or not you think there are any antelope in your part of the world.
Stalking an antelope takes patience and luck, but to paraphrase David Ogilvy, it helps to know which side of the savannah they’re on.
Chasing an antelope uses different muscles and approaches than chasing twenty mice, so you can expect a decent learning curve.
A learning curve shouldn’t stop you, just don’t go around promising people antelope curry on that first day.

The third consideration is whether or not you are a lion.
This is an analogy and it isn’t perfect for every industry – what would be a better metaphor for your style of hunting?
It might also be a reflection of your personality; maybe you need to recruit a lion who can either teach you or hunt on your behalf?

For more of these questions, have a look at Ugly Questions or Lucrative Questions