Three Circles Model
Updated 2026-08-09
INTRODUCTION
English translation pending.
CORE DEFINITION
A model for career and strategic choice, popularized by Jim Collins, that locates the right direction at the overlap of three circles: what you can be the best at, what you are deeply passionate about, and what drives your economic or resource engine. Its core proposition is that each circle alone fails in a predictable way, so only their intersection sustains value creation over time. The qualifier is that the three circles shift, so the intersection must be re-examined rather than fixed once.
SCAFFOLDING EFFECT
Reduce cognitive load
- Three lists: write separately what you are good at, what you love, and what pays. - Intersection test: keep only the items that appear on all three lists at once. - Gap filling: build skill or find support for anything just outside the overlap.
Anchor fast decisions
Each circle eliminates a distinct failure mode: capability without market produces useless work, market without interest produces burnout, and interest without capability produces frustration. Requiring all three at once filters out options that would fail on any single dimension, which is why the intersection is more durable than any circle alone.
MINIMUM ACTION
In progress 0/1Practice this model in one real situation:
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Source support: Explicit
- en.wikipedia.orghttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_circles_modelverified
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