1st Principles Thinking - Systemising in the Org

You may have heard of the 1st Principles Thinking – approach to problem solving, scaling, thinking et al. The important question is, how well have you been able to implement this in your sphere of influence? If not consistently then this article is what you need. In this article I bring to you the potential approach to systemisation of the 1st Principles Thinking beyond your circle of influence.

THE WHAT -

First principles thinking is the act of boiling a process down to the fundamental parts that you know are true and building up from there.

"First principles thinking" (or "reasoning from first principles") is a problem-solving technique that requires you to break down a complex problem into its most basic, foundational elements. Think of a first principle like an element. It cannot be broken down further. It is pure.

The idea: to ground yourself in the foundational truths and build up from there.

THE WHY –

–???????Foundation for a skyscraper: Problem Solving prominently features in repository of all critical business thinking literature. The half truth however, is that most of these techniques do not push you to really get to the root of the problem. More often than not we are scratching a superficial surface and walk away with a false sense of achievement of having solved the problem. I have seen something similar in ‘Why Why Analysis’ of Solutioning ascribed to the Japanese manufacturing techniques. You will end up building solutions on a wrong assumption, needless to state, the problem will resurface.

–???????Money Saved is Money Earned: As the old adage goes, if you save something from the current process, it adds to your earning. The 1st Principles Thinking will enable us to channelise our resources with precision and not hope. With the root cause identified with such precision, the resource allocation can be swift and decisive. Such an approach creates and inherent approval system built on rich data.

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–???????Confident and Productive Workforce: With 1st Principles Thinking you enhance the chances of success outcome after a SCRUM / Cross Functional Teams / Project Teams etc. When teams face more success than failures it enhances their confidence to take on more complex challenges. The workforce feels extremely confident about having completed the task in a far lesser time, not needing too many clarifications and guidance. The impact on productivity can be felt very apparently, it would be good to measure this and present in a quantifiable manner

–???????Shared responsibility of Clarity: The more this phenomenon gains momentum in the organisation the more are people likely to question the assumptions. They will want to operate from the first principles and very often you can hear people ask:

o??Why do I believe this to be true?

o??How do I know this is true?

o??How can I support this belief?

o??What alternative viewpoints might exist?

THE HOW

–???????Proof is in the Pudding: First up create a proof of concept that the 1st principles thinking actually works. You may choose an ongoing project or start a new one, the qualifying criteria being that it has to be important to the organisation. Gather as many data points as you can substantiate the hypothesis, add qualitative feedback from the project team as well. It will help to create a report of the impact made.

–???????Expanding the circle of influence: The choice of the person who you pitch this report to is as important as anything with this endeavour. ?It will need a person with enough heft in the system and the nous for new management thinking to bite this. If you are new in the system, speak to people who have been around for some time to help you find one. A casual connect before the pitch is always a good platform to the pitch.

–???????Waterfall cascade: A new concept has to find the acceptance right at the top. Using your expanded circle of influence make a similar pitch to the corner office, CEO. For that, you would have by now collected enough evidences and data points to make a strong push. Go into this meeting with a plan to plan of action

–???????Work with HR Team: The HR Head and the team will play a pivotal role in systemising this into the organisation. Work with them to get 1st Principles Thinking included in the Values Framework or Ways of Working document. Let the HR Team pitch this to the organisation furthering your efforts, allows you more legs to make the journey. ?

SUSTAINING:

–???????Any new thinking or way of working needs to be reiterated multiple times for it to become a new way of thinking

–???????It’s a continuum, you will need to revisit it from time to time

–???????Once its mainstream, this new system will need to part of the reward mechanism