ABOUT THIS EPISODE
Would you still respect your decision if it failed?
Before Amazon existed, Jeff Bezos had a secure career and an uncertain idea. His regret minimization framework changed the question: looking back at 80, would he regret trying and failing—or never trying at all?
Jordan West unpacks the decision behind Amazon and tests the framework against his own business failures, difficult partnerships, family choices, and the decision to create this show. Along the way, Charles Darwin’s marriage notes and Steve Jobs’s daily question offer two more ways to bring a distant future into focus.
In this episode:
- Why a good decision cannot be judged only by its outcome
- How to separate today’s pressure from what will matter at 80
- What regret reveals about freedom, integrity, and relationships
- Why other people’s approval can pull you toward the wrong choice
- How to test a decision without assuming a successful ending
Your experiment: Choose one decision you are facing. Make the options concrete, picture the life each one creates, and ask which choice you would still respect if it failed.
One problem. One framework. One experiment.
Frameworks with Jordan West explores the decision rules underneath consequential lives—ideas you can build a life on.
Follow the show for more frameworks, founder stories, and practical experiments.
Learn more: jordanwest.ca
