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The Tim Ferriss Show

#483: Jim Collins on The Value of Small Gestures, Unseen Sources of Power, and More

The Tim Ferriss Show

Tim Ferriss: Bestselling Author, Human Guinea Pig

Tools Of Titans, Lifestyle Design, Business, Tim Ferriss, Timothy Ferriss Show, Startups, Longform Interviews, Productivity, The 4-hour Workweek, Timothy Ferriss, Tim Ferris, The Tim Ferriss Show, Entrepreneurship

4.617.7K Ratings

🗓️ 2 December 2020

⏱️ 170 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Jim Collins (jimcollins.com) is a student and teacher of what makes great companies tick and a Socratic advisor to leaders in the business and social sectors. Having invested more than a quarter-century in rigorous research, he has authored or co-authored six books that have sold in total more than 10 million copies worldwide. They include Good to Great, the #1 bestseller that examines why some companies make the leap to superior results, and its companion work Good to Great and the Social Sectors; the enduring classic Built to Last, which explores how some leaders build companies that remain visionary for generations; How the Mighty Fall, which delves into how once-great companies can self-destruct; and Great by Choice, which is about thriving in chaos—why some do and others don’t.

And now he’s updating his debut book, Beyond Entrepreneurship, for the 21st century. Beyond Entrepreneurship 2.0: Turning Your Business into an Enduring Great Company is now available.

Please enjoy this round two with Jim Collins! (And if you haven’t already, make sure to check out round one here.)

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This episode is also brought to you by GiveWell.org! For over ten years GiveWell.org has helped donors find the charities and projects that save and improve lives most per dollar. Here’s how: GiveWell dedicates over twenty thousand hours a year to researching charitable organizations and hand-picks a few of the highest-impact, evidence-backed charities. Since 2010, GiveWell has helped over 50,000 donors direct over 500 million dollars to the most effective charities. Most importantly, these donations will save over 75,000 lives and improve the lives of millions more.

This year, support the charities that save and improve lives most, with GiveWellAny of my listeners who become new GiveWell donors will have their first donation matched up to $250 when you go to GiveWell dot org/Tim and select “PODCAST” and “Tim Ferriss” at checkout.

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Past guests on The Tim Ferriss Show include Jerry Seinfeld, Hugh Jackman, Dr. Jane Goodall, LeBron James, Kevin Hart, Doris Kearns Goodwin, Jamie Foxx, Matthew McConaughey, Esther Perel, Elizabeth Gilbert, Terry Crews, Sia, Yuval Noah Harari, Malcolm Gladwell, Madeleine Albright, Cheryl Strayed, Jim Collins, Mary Karr, Maria Popova, Sam Harris, Michael Phelps, Bob Iger, Edward Norton, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Neil Strauss, Ken Burns, Maria Sharapova, Marc Andreessen, Neil Gaiman, Neil de Grasse Tyson, Jocko Willink, Daniel Ek, Kelly Slater, Dr. Peter Attia, Seth Godin, Howard Marks, Dr. Brené Brown, Eric Schmidt, Michael Lewis, Joe Gebbia, Michael Pollan, Dr. Jordan Peterson, Vince Vaughn, Brian Koppelman, Ramit Sethi, Dax Shepard, Tony Robbins, Jim Dethmer, Dan Harris, Ray Dalio, Naval Ravikant, Vitalik Buterin, Elizabeth Lesser, Amanda Palmer, Katie Haun, Sir Richard Branson, Chuck Palahniuk, Arianna Huffington, Reid Hoffman, Bill Burr, Whitney Cummings, Rick Rubin, Dr. Vivek Murthy, Darren Aronofsky, and many more.

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Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

Well, hello boys and girls ladies and germs, Damas Higabayeros.

0:03.4

This is Tim Ferrison.

0:04.4

Welcome to another episode of the Tim Ferris Show, where it is my job to deconstruct world

0:09.0

class performers of all different types from all different industries, areas of expertise.

0:13.9

My guest today, back by popular request, is Jim Collins.

0:18.8

Jim Collins is a student and teacher of what makes great companies tick and a socratic

0:23.2

advisor.

0:24.2

We'll explain what that means to leaders throughout the business and social sectors.

0:27.5

His first appearance on this podcast was easily one of the most popular of all of 2019.

0:33.4

People went bananas.

0:34.6

So the hope is that we bottle some of that lightning again in this round too, and we cover

0:39.7

a lot of new ground.

0:41.5

For those who don't know Jim, Jim has invested more than 25 years in rigorous research

0:45.8

and has authored or co-authored six books that have sold more than 10 million copies worldwide

0:50.9

in total.

0:51.9

They include Good to Great, the number one best seller that examines why some companies

0:55.4

make the leap to superior results, and its companion work, Good to Great, and the social

0:59.5

sectors.

1:00.5

The enduring classic, Built to Last, many of you will know that, which explores how some

1:04.3

leaders build companies that remain visionary for generations, how the mighty fall, just

1:09.2

in some ways the exact opposite, which delves into how once great companies can self-destruct

1:13.6

and great by choice, which is about thriving in chaos, why some do, and others don't.

...

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