James C. Collins is a student of enduring great companies — how they grow, how they attain superior performance, and how good companies can become great companies. Having invested more than a decade of research into the topic, Jim has authored or co-authored four books — including the classic Built to Last, a fixture on the Business Week bestseller list for more than six years, and the New York Times bestseller, GOOD TO GREAT: Why Some Companies Make the Leap…And Others Don't. His work has been featured in Fortune, The Economist, Fast Company, USA Today, Industry Week, Business Week, Newsweek, Inc., and Harvard Business Review.
Driven by a relentless curiosity, Jim began his research and teaching career on the faculty of Stanford's Graduate School of Business, where he received the Distinguished Teaching Award. After seven years at Stanford, Jim returned to his hometown of Boulder, Colorado, to found his management research laboratory. “I am a self-employed professor who endowed his own chair and granted himself tenure,” he is fond of saying.
Jim set up his research lab in the same building where he attended grammar school. Still a place of learning, Jim uses the laboratory to conduct large-scale research projects to develop fundamental insights and then translate those findings into books, articles and lectures. Jim continues to conduct rigorous research while maintaining an active teaching schedule with leaders in the corporate and social sectors.
In addition to his day job, Jim is an avid rock climber and has made free ascents of the West Face of El Capitan and the East Face of Washington Column in Yosemite Valley.
Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies: 10th Anniversary Edition 2nd Ed.
Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap... and Others Don't