Jim Collins and Ed Zschau (#741)
Dateline: San Francisco, CA
This episode is a two-for-one, and that’s because the podcast recently hit its 10-year anniversary and passed one billion downloads. To celebrate, I’ve curated some of the best of the best—some of my favorites—from more than 700 episodes over the last decade. I could not be more excited. The episode features segments from episode #361 “Jim Collins — A Rare Interview with a Reclusive Polymath” and #380 “Ed Zschau — The Polymath Professor Who Changed My Life.”
Please enjoy!
Bios of guests may be found at tim.blog/combo.
Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Castbox, YouTube Music, Amazon Music, Audible, or on your favorite podcast platform.
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#741: Jim Collins and Ed Zschau
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What was your favorite quote or lesson from this episode? Please let me know in the comments.
SHOW NOTES
- [05:00] Notes about this supercombo format.
- [06:03] Enter Jim Collins.
- [06:28] How Jim’s students influenced his entrepreneurial path.
- [10:45] Why Jim carries a three-timer stopwatch.
- [12:21] Using a spreadsheet to optimize discipline in service of creativity.
- [13:42] Ideal minimum creative hours per year.
- [15:19] Avoiding a life-distorting “funk.”
- [17:41] Calculating an optimal end point.
- [19:27] Patterns discovered using Jim’s time-tracking method.
- [20:23] Three crucial components for living the life Jim wants to lead.
- [22:18] The bug book and the hedgehog concept.
- [30:31] Peter Drucker mic-drop lessons.
- [34:39] Enter Ed Zschau.
- [34:59] How I convinced Dr. Zschau to let me into his Princeton engineering course.
- [37:38] Ed’s background in competitive figure skating and the lessons it taught him.
- [41:45] The origin of Ed’s meticulous attention to detail.
- [45:31] The benefits of learning by doing through the case method.
- [49:21] Ed’s definition of entrepreneurship.
- [50:50] The role of optimism in entrepreneurship and life.
- [53:30] Ed’s aspirations as a teenager and young adult.
- [55:32] What drew Ed to Princeton as an aspiring physics philosopher.
- [58:21] How Ed got into teaching and his belief that career planning is overrated.
- [1:03:37] How Ed learned to become a good teacher and the influence of extemporaneous speaking.
- [1:06:53] Lessons from extemporaneous speaking competitions about preparation and adaptation.
- [1:11:04] Ed’s thoughts on focusing for extended periods versus opening himself to opportunities.
- [1:13:06] Ed’s decision to run for Congress.
- [1:17:57] Advantages of committing to a maximum of three terms in the House of Representatives.
- [1:21:29] Ed’s experience and self-reflection after losing his Senate race.
- [1:23:40] Ed’s decision process when transitioning from investor to CEO.
- [1:26:05] Differentiating between high-impact commitments and peer pressure.
- [1:29:41] Comparing Ed’s parenting style to his teaching style.
- [1:31:17] Ed’s belief in encouragement over direction and his own upbringing.
- [1:34:45] The origin of Ed’s goal to live a life that matters.
- [1:37:05] Influential books and recommendations for aspiring entrepreneurs.
- [1:42:05] Ed’s current excitement and efforts to make higher education affordable through technology.
- [1:48:37] The mantra by which Ed lives his life and his childhood nickname.
- [1:50:57] How Ed brings the sound of music to his endeavors.
- [1:57:34] Ed’s influence on others to continue his work of changing the world.
- [1:59:40] Parting thoughts.
SELECTED LINKS FROM THE EPISODE
Connect with Jim Collins:
- Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap and Others Don’t by Jim Collins | Amazon
- How The Mighty Fall: And Why Some Companies Never Give In by Jim Collins | Amazon
- Great by Choice: Uncertainty, Chaos, and Luck — Why Some Thrive Despite Them All by Jim Collins and Morten T. Hansen | Amazon
- Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies by Jim Collins and Jerry I. Porras | Amazon
- Beyond Entrepreneurship: Turning Your Business into an Enduring Great Company by James Collins and William C. Lazier | Amazon
- Thelma and Louise | Prime Video
- Stanford University
- Manage Your Time Like Jim Collins | HBR
- Concepts: The 20-Mile March | Jim Collins
- A Thousand Hours of Creativity by Jonathan Eastwood | LinkedIn
- Jim Collins’ Happiness Spreadsheet | Accidentally Retired
- Operations Research/The Simplex Method | Wikibooks
- The Hedgehog Concept | Jim Collins
- Straight from the Hedgehog’s Mouth: Management Guru Jim Collins | The Irish Times
- Ten Lessons I Learned from Peter Drucker | Jim Collins
- Drucker Day Keynote with Jim Collins | The Drucker Institute
- Sierra Nevada College
- System Industries
- IBM
- ELE 491: High-Tech Entrepreneurship | Princeton University
- Harvard University
- Caltech
- University of Nevada, Reno
- Reader’s Digest
- StarTek
- US House of Representatives
- Brentwood Associates
- The TECH Interactive
- University of San Francisco
- California Council on Science and Technology
- Omaha Knights | Ice Hockey Wiki
- 10 Versions of Murphy’s Law for Universal “Truths” | ThoughtCo.
- “If You Fail to Prepare, You Are Preparing to Fail” | Quote Investigator
- Case Method Teaching | Stanford University
- Harvard Business School
- Stanford Graduate School of Business
- The McPhee Syllabus | The Millions
- Kant’s Views on Space and Time | Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
- Einstein’s Theory of General Relativity: A Simplified Explanation | Space
- Newton’s Views on Space, Time, and Motion | Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
- The Devastating Impact of the 1961 Plane Crash That Wiped Out the Entire U.S. Figure Skating Team | Smithsonian
- Officer Candidate School (OCS) | US Navy
- Extemporaneous Speaking: Things to Know | ForCom
- 113 Extemporaneous Speech Topics | My Speech Class
- Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr’s Duel | American Experience, PBS
- American Electronics Association | NNDB
- How Silicon Valley Hacked the Economy | The Nation
- House Committee on Ways and Means | GovTrack
- 1986 United States Senate Election in California | Wikipedia
- Zschau Named CEO of Censtor, a Disk Maker | Los Angeles Times
- Boy Scouts of America
- The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich by Timothy Ferriss | Amazon
- The 4-Hour Body: An Uncommon Guide to Rapid Fat-Loss, Incredible Sex, and Becoming Superhuman by Timothy Ferriss | Amazon
- Benjamin Franklin: An American Life by Walter Isaacson | Amazon
- Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson | Amazon
- Einstein: His Life and Universe by Walter Isaacson | Amazon
- The Wright Brothers by David McCullough | Amazon
- Building on Bedrock: What Sam Walton, Walt Disney, and Other Great Self-Made Entrepreneurs Can Teach Us About Building Valuable Companies by Derek Lidow | Amazon
- The Walmart Museum
- Income Share Agreements: What Students Should Know Before Signing | Nerdwallet
- Lambda School
- Mission Impossible | Prime Video
- The Steps of the Simplex Algorithm | HEC Montreal
- My Way by Frank Sinatra | Amazon Music
PEOPLE MENTIONED
The Tim Ferriss Show is one of the most popular podcasts in the world with more than one billion downloads. It has been selected for "Best of Apple Podcasts" three times, it is often the #1 interview podcast across all of Apple Podcasts, and it's been ranked #1 out of 400,000+ podcasts on many occasions. To listen to any of the past episodes for free, check out this page.
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