From Adam’s new book, The Passion Economy, we have rule #6: TECHNOLOGY SHOULD ALWAYS SUPPORT YOUR BUSINESS, NOT DRIVE IT.
We talk about this rule plus several others in the show. But first let’s learn more about Adam…
A Bit More About Adam Davidson
Adam Davidson has been a staff writer for The New Yorker since 2016. He founded, hosted, and ran NPR’s Planet Money from 2008 to 2013. He then became an economics writer and columnist for The New York Times Magazine. He has won the Peabody, Polk, and duPont-Columbia Awards. He hosts the Passion Economy podcast, based on the ideas in this book, for Luminary Media and cofounded Three Uncanny Four, a podcast company. Davidson was the technical adviser for the film The Big Short, working closely with its writer and director, Adam McKay. He and McKay were executive producers of the Amazon television program This Giant Beast That Is the Global Economy, starring Kal Penn. Davidson is married to the journalist and novelist Jen Banbury; they live with their son in Brooklyn, New York. You can listen to our first interview with Adam at Episode #26.
Here are Ron’s questions from the interview:
How are you, personally, holding up during this COVID crisis, the lockdown, lack of travel?
Adam, why did you write this book, which came out this year, and why did you write it now? [The Passion Economy: The New Rules for Thriving in the Twenty-First Century].
You start out the book with a story that I absolutely love—the conflict between two Stanleys. Can you explain that?
I was heartened to read what you wrote: “Simply pursuing one’s passion is not enough. We must pay close attention to the marketplace.” We’ve had Rabbi Daniel Lapin on the show a few times, and he believes the whole “follow your passion” that you get at commencement addresses is bad advice. He says, you have to do something that serves other people, something that they value, and then you learn to love it over time. Because if you just follow your passion, it can sink into narcissism. React to that.
Your passions can change, can’t they?
I get this question a lot from young people, “I haven’t found my passion. How do I find my passion?” How do you answer that to a high school or college student?
You were talking with Ed about your Rule #6 about technology, the most fascinating profiles in the book was Pioneer, the Amish company. What did you learn from them, since they aren’t known for being on the technological edge?
I love that story. You also spent some time at a winery, and I always say that wineries are farmers, but they are also incredible marketers, different price points, target markets, etc. But folks you’ll have to read the book to get some of these great profiles.
…and here are Ed’s questions:
You talk about the rules for the passion economy. The first one I found particularly interesting, because at first glance it appears that might be contradictory, and I hope you can unpack it for us: RULE #1: PURSUE INTIMACY AT SCALE.
I want to jump to your RULE #4: FEWER PASSIONATE CUSTOMERS ARE BETTER THAN A LOT OF INDIFFERENT ONES.
What’s interesting about that is, sure Mark Zuckerberg goes for the scale of the world, yet it’s his platform that allows us to get very specific with regards to our targeted ads.
And your RULE #6, this is really important because the folks I work with, especially in accounting: TECHNOLOGY SHOULD ALWAYS SUPPORT YOUR BUSINESS, NOT DRIVE IT. I think that’s been one of the big mistakes people have fallen for. They think technology is the business, and it’s not, it’s a supporter, a tool. Take that apart a bit more.
And RULE #8, which I also love, it is similar to number one because it sounds like an apparent contradiction, but I know it’s not. In fact, Ron and I have done at least one entire show on this topic [Episode #28]: NEVER BE IN THE COMMODITY BUSINESS, EVEN IF YOU SELL WHAT OTHER PEOPLE CONSIDER A COMMODITY.
Our favorite example of this is giveashare.com, which sells one share of stock, the very definition of a commodity.
Adam, I wanted to ask you about something that I notice that you repeat over and over in the book, and it’s certainly in the chapter about Jason Blumer with Ron and Tim Williams. At one point, you write that when Ron said “prices justify costs” this confounded Jason. And I’m going to ask you a question: were you also talking about yourself? Was that a discovery that you made in conversations with Ron as well?
I love that you’re a word guy, the word “transaction” itself has this notion that means “beyond the action” of an exchange of goods, there’s something beyond that, it’s deeper. You write “I happen to be an unobservant Jew and spend little time thinking about God or spiritual things. I found that the closer I adhere to a Passion Economy approach to my work, the more meaningful my work becomes.” Ron talked about Rabbi Lapin earlier, and something he says that the Hebrew word for work and worship are the same word. How incredibly profound that is, and it seems you’ve gotten to the essence of that without even knowing it?
What are your thoughts on The Passion Economy in the age of COVID-19?
Several pharmaceutical companies, some bitter rivals, are cooperating to come up with a vaccine. For COVID-19 and the technology that enables them to do that. I’ll let you react to that in the last 30 seconds.
Bonus Content is Available As Well
Did you know that each week after our live show, Ron and Ed take to the microphone for a bonus show? Typically, this bonus show is an extension of the live show topic (sometimes even with the same guest) and a few other pieces of news, current events, or things that have caught our attention.
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Here are a few topics discussed from the most recent bonus episode: