Applying First Principles

Put the approach to work:

• Start with "why" — when told something is impossible, keep asking why until you hit a real constraint or just a convention
• Separate laws from rules — physics is a law; company policy is a rule. Laws cannot be broken, but rules can be changed
• Challenge cost assumptions — most costs reflect historical inefficiency, not fundamental necessity
• Practice on small problems first — apply first principles to everyday decisions before tackling big ones.