First Principles Thinking

First principles thinking isn’t reserved for businesses or entrepreneurs. It’s a tool that anyone can apply to their life to rethink challenges, break free from assumptions, and find creative paths to solve problems.

Key Steps

Define The Problem: list out existing beliefs and assumptions about the problem.

Break It Down: deconstruct the problem into its fundamental components.

Challenge Assumptions: question whether each assumption is truly valid or necessary.

Rebuild Solutions: Build a solution from the ground up using only verified truths.

How to practice?

Use "Five Whys" Technique
Keep asking "Why?" until you reach the root cause of a problem or idea.

A Real Example:

Scenario: "Our team’s project deadlines are always delayed."

Why? Team members are overburdened.

Why? They’re handling multiple projects simultaneously.

Why? There’s no clear prioritization process.

Outcome: Implementing a prioritization framework solves the root issue.

Innovation and Insight

By stripping away unnecessary or unproven layers, you can discover new ways to tackle old problems, often leading to groundbreaking insights or more efficient, cost-effective solutions.