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CHAPTERS
- 0:00 – 4:33
Intro and Jason Feifer's Background
Steph Smith introduces Jason Feifer, his book Build For Tomorrow, and the six-framework format with a closing game. Jason then explains his background as editor-in-chief of Entrepreneur Magazine and the Pessimists Archive roots of his podcast.
- •Steph previews six frameworks about how people adapt to change
- •A closing game applies the frameworks to current technologies
- •Jason is editor-in-chief of Entrepreneur Magazine and author of Build For Tomorrow
- •His podcast grew out of Pessimists Archive
- 4:33 – 11:43
Why Adaptability Is the Key Skill
Jason explains that audiences kept asking him what defines successful entrepreneurs, and he concluded that people hang on through enough failures to get there. That requires personal adaptability, not just revising the product. Steph notes it applies at micro and macro scales, and asks about the six frameworks.
- •Questions people ask reveal the value they see in you; Jason was seen as a pattern matcher
- •Success comes from persisting through failures and iterating
- •Founders must rethink themselves, not just their product
- •Looking at history shows how change goes right and wrong
- •The frameworks explain why people resist new innovations
- 11:43 – 17:51
Framework 1: We Don't Believe in Our Own Adaptability
Jason argues that people process new things as a loss and extrapolate it. He tells the story of John Philip Sousa's "Menace of Mechanical Music" against the phonograph, and how recorded music let musicians scale.
- •New things are processed as loss, and the loss gets extrapolated
- •Sousa predicted machine babies from recorded music
- •Recorded music let musicians reach people they couldn't physically reach
- •We are the products of change that earlier generations opposed
- 17:51 – 22:29
Lump of Labor and Shifting Definitions of Intelligence
Jason brings in the lump of labor fallacy: the belief in a fixed number of jobs. He acknowledges that transitions are disruptive with real losers, and Steph and Jason discuss how intelligence shifts from recall to finding and processing information.
- •The lump of labor fallacy assumes a fixed pool of jobs
- •Live film-score musicians did lose work, so transitions are hard
- •Society should watch for where new opportunities emerge
- •Intelligence shifted from retaining information to quickly finding and processing it
- 22:29 – 28:35
Framework 2: We Don't Know What New Things Are For
Jason says people either fear or dismiss new things when they don't know their purpose. He uses the print magazine and Red Bull to argue that content is for relationships. Steph and Jason cite the telegraph, the telephone and the home computer as examples of uses emerging over time.
- •Content is now for relationships rather than direct monetization
- •Red Bull's content builds trust that sells energy drinks
- •Thoreau's remark on the telegraph shows uses emerge once people can communicate
- •Early versions of a technology aren't the final form
- •Winners keep asking what it is for and adapt to what they learn
- 28:35 – 37:40
Framework 3: Innovators Don't Build a Bridge
Jason explains that innovators know their product's value and forget others don't see it. The car was sold as a replacement for the horse, and the industry shifted to the better horse framing. Chicken chips became protein chips and elevators added a soothing voice.
- •Innovators must build a bridge of familiarity from where people are
- •The car became a better horse via horsepower and names like Bronco and Mustang
- •Chicken chips renamed protein chips unlocked sales
- •Elevators added a soothing voice to signal a human presence
- •Steph links this to Web3, autonomous vehicles, space, AI and electric car sounds
- 37:40 – 44:57
Framework 4: Mistaking a 1% Problem for a 100% Problem
Using the waltz, Jason shows that doctors were right it was unhealthy but blamed the dance rather than the unventilated rooms, fumes, dust and tight clothing. Steph connects this to digital data and unforeseen phone concerns. Jason suggests asking whether a new problem is better than the old problem.
- •The waltz's health risks came from its surroundings, not the dance
- •People see a 1% flaw and condemn the whole thing, as with Lime scooters
- •Digital products give data to isolate the real problem
- •Nothing is perfect, so ask whether the new problem is better than the old one
- 44:57 – 51:28
Framework 5: Imbuing Innovations with Our Anxieties
Jason tells the story of the 1907 teddy bear moral panic, sparked by a Michigan reverend who feared girls would not develop maternal instinct. He says it reflected anxiety about women's education and work. He links this to alarmist traditional media coverage of technology, and Steph adds that people also protect investments.
- •Reverend Michael G. Esper's sermon triggered a national panic over teddy bears
- •The fear reflected anxiety about women entering education and the workforce
- •Jason says traditional media fears upended systems and covers technology alarmistically
- •Steph adds that people protect investments like degrees and taxi medallions
- 51:28 – 1:03:25
Framework 6: We Oversimplify Problems
Jason uses the 2016 election to show that calling Russian interference unprecedented hides its hundred-year history and misdirects solutions toward social media alone. Steph raises growing abstraction from technology. Jason says people must simplify, and innovators should find a use case and tell a compelling story, citing electricity and Kodak.
- •Calling something unprecedented makes myths and lies easier
- •Russia used the dominant medium of each era, so social media alone isn't the problem
- •Electricity won acceptance through one use case: safer lighting
- •Per Hamza Mudassir, Facebook killed Kodak by giving digital photos a use
- •Companies should expect change to come for what they make
- 1:03:25 – 1:05:02
Recap of the Six Frameworks
Steph asks Jason to wrap up, and he lists the six frameworks. He reframes them as major problems, and says identifying what drives each problem points toward solutions.
- •Six frameworks restated in sequence
- •They are really six problems that block adoption
- •Diagnosing the problem points to a solution
- 1:05:02 – 1:14:59
Game Part One: Mirror, Camera and Airplane
Steph reads historical headlines and Jason slots each into a framework. The mirror fits framework two, the camera fits framework five through vanity anxieties, and the airplane fits framework two.
- •Mirror: "Little Aids for Vain Women" parallels today's selfie worries
- •Camera: etiquette guides reframed a photo of yourself as a gift, not vanity
- •Airplane: "No Chance for the Airplane" reflects not knowing what it was for
- •Early cars were mostly joyrides before commuting existed
- 1:14:59 – 1:17:27
Game Part Two: Remote Work, AR/VR and Biohacking
Steph raises current technologies facing pushback. Jason places remote work under the 1% problem, AR/VR under not knowing what things are for, and biohacking under cultural anxieties. He keeps his answers short.
- •Remote work: four-day-week companies report disconnection, a solvable 1% problem
- •AR/VR lacks a killer use case; Jason's Oculus sits in his closet
- •Biohacking raises large moral questions tied to cultural anxieties
- •Jason says new problems are better than the old ones
- 1:17:27 – 1:19:29
Closing Exercise and Where to Find Jason
Steph suggests listeners apply the frameworks to NFTs, autonomous vehicles, ride sharing and trains. Jason shares where to find Build for Tomorrow and his website, and the episode wraps up.
- •Steph suggests NFTs, autonomous vehicles, ride sharing and trains as exercises
- •Build for Tomorrow is a guide to adaptability
- •Jason's website is jasonfeifer.com with links to his newsletter and social media
