Innovation
Develop
new approaches
rather than copying
existing solutions.
Explore Ideas
First Principles
Question Everything - Except Reality.
Think Clearly. Look Deeper. Build Better.
What is First Principles Thinking?
Solve problems
from the ground up.
Many decisions are shaped by assumptions, habits, traditions,
accepted wisdom, or the way things have always been done.
First Principles Thinking helps you question those assumptions,
identify what must be true, and rebuild from the fundamentals.
Instead of asking, “How do other people do this?”
First Principles asks, “What must be true?”
When should I use it?
Useful when conventional thinking is not enough.
Strategy
Challenge
assumptions
about how things
must be done.
Business Models
Re-examine
products,
services, and
operating models.
Problem Solving
Look
beneath symptoms
and focus
on root causes.
Technology
Explore
what is truly
possible rather than
what is customary.
Personal Decisions
Question
inherited beliefs,
habits, and
assumptions.
The First Principles Workflow
From assumptions
to new possibilities.
Stage 0
PREPARE
Get ready for session by deciding on
your focus, your aims, your boundaries,
your facts and who is going to be affected.
Stage 1
ASSUMPTIONS
Identify what is currently being taken for granted.
What do people believe to be true?
What assumptions might be limiting thinking?
Stage 2
FUNDAMENTALS
Identify what must be true.
Separate facts from opinions,
habits, traditions, and assumptions.
Stage 3
CONSTRAINTS
Distinguish between real constraints
and inherited constraints. Many limits
turn out to be assumptions.
Stage 4
REBUILD
Design a new solution from the ground up
using only the fundamentals, real constraints,
and what must genuinely be true.
Stage 5
TEST
Ask whether the rebuilt idea would actually work.
Evaluate practicality, risks, trade-offs, and implementation.
Stage 7
REPORT
There are a number of reporting options.
Alongside options for making use of social media.
First Principles Coach
A coach helps you
to learn the method.
The First Principles Coach
helps you understand the framework,
identify assumptions, see examples,
practise the method, and apply it to real situations.
- Learn First Principles
- Identify assumptions
- Understand fundamentals
- See examples and stories
- Apply the method to your own situation
Why use First Principles?
Useful when assumptions
may be hiding better solutions.
Challenge Assumptions
Question
accepted wisdom
and inherited
ways of thinking.
Reveal Fundamentals
Focus
on what must
genuinely be true.
Discover Alternatives
Find possibilities
that conventional
thinking may miss.
Reduce Groupthink
Avoid
simply copying
existing solutions.
_
Support Innovation
Generate
more original
and practical approaches.
Think More Clearly
Separate
facts, assumptions,
constraints, and possibilities.
Included with membership
First Principles is part of
the FreeThought experience.
For 35 CHF per year,
membership includes
First Principles Thinking,
the First Principles Coach,
current member apps, and future releases.
35 CHF
per year
- First Principles app
- First Principles Coach
- Current member apps
- Future app releases