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In the ‘Zero To One’, the canonical book on building great companies, Peter Thiel describes four mindsets held by people and societies regarding the future: Definite Optimism, Indefinite Optimism, Indefinite Pessimism, and Definite Pessimism.
The optimism-pessimism spectrum denotes where people think society is going, the definite-indefinite spectrum how we’ll get there.
Peter’s contention is that the current milieu in the US and Europe is one of indeterminism. To borrow Steve Job’s famous quote, we used to believe we could put a dent in the universe, now we just know it will be dented. The problem with this line of thinking is that if nobody is actively creating the future we want to live in, it will never arrive. Elon Musk put it well:
"Technology does not automatically improve, it only improves if a lot of people work very hard to make it better."
Progress require both an optimistic vision for the future, and a sense of conviction as to how that vision will be instantiated.
The world needs more definite optimists- people with grand visions for the future backed by pragmatic plans and actions to bring them to life. This week’s guest, Jack O’ Connor is- I believe- one such individual. In our conversation, Jack shares a dictum by which he tries to live his life:
“I try to be an idealist in vision, and a pragmatist in execution”
This short sentence strikes on many of the keynotes previously touched on by Thiel, Musk and other great visionaries. Like all worthy ideals, it’s a challenging one to live up to- as Jack acknowledges in the episode- but it’s worth striving towards.
I hope you get as much inspiration, enjoyment, and actionable insight from my conversation with Jack as I did.
Thanks for reading.
Have a great week!
Will
🎙Podcast: The Definite Optimism of Jack O' Connor