Tim Ferriss’ Theory of Change
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In my post on Multiple Levels of Change, I outlined four different levels where I believe change happens. Those are Micro-Personal, Personal, Organizational and Societal. Recently, I was listening to a podcast interview that Yaro Starak at Entrepreneur’s Journey posted with Tim Ferriss. While the majority of the interview was talking about Tim’s book, the Four Hour Workweek, one question touched on how Tim would like to see the culture of overwork change. In his answer, Tim articulated a very distinct theory of change (which I was pleased to see is not that different from my own!), which I would label Micro to Macro.
- Change the Individual. That’s what the book is really about. Tim wants to show people that productivity is not the same as busy-ness. He is helping individuals change through the stories and tools in the book.
- Change the Organization. As more and more individual workers begin to explore new ways of getting their work done, they will educate their co-workers and friends about their techniques. Eventually, entire organizations may adopt new policies and practices that encourage workers to be creative and productive. Some, such as Best Buy, already have.
- Change the Society. As more individuals and organizations get on the Four Hour bandwagon, public opinion on overwork may begin to fundamentally shift. This will influence policy-makers to re-examine some of the rules that govern work life in the U.S. In the interview, Tim hinted at having ideas for policies and legislation that he would like to see enacted on a national level. One idea that I heard was for mandatory time off.
Whatever your opinions about Tim or his book, he definitely comes across as a man with a plan. In fact, he seems extremely ambitious for a guy who claims to trot off to Costa Rica or Germany every other week!

Related posts:
- Changes That Stick: Maintaining the Change
- Project Management, Change Management and Personal Development: Where is the Crossroads?
- If You Want to Change Your Life, You Have to Change Your Mind
- Super Secret Mind Control Techniques That Inspire Others to Change
- The Intersection of Project Management and Change Management: An Interview With Bas de Baar of Project Shrink
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This is a really clever post. I learn a lot from your technique here.
Tim Ferris is a interesting man and he has developed a fairly simple strategy and executes it in very focused way. “the commitment to the strategy is as important as the strategy” certainly applies in this case.
I struggle a little bit with some of his concepts such as geoarbitrage I would like to trial however I am not yet satisfied that with the moral and social dimensions of this suggestion.
I would be really interested to hear your comments about Tim Ferrisisms that you have implemented or rejected based on your deep understanding of personal change?
Thanks for lot’s of great info. Dean
Thanks for the comment, Dean. I agree that Tim has found something that works for him in a big way. To be honest, I haven’t yet done any of the “comfort challenges” in the book. However, I have an idea for one of them, which I’m sure will be a blog post in the near future!