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FIRST-PRINCIPLES-THINKING5 MIN READ

First-Principles Pocket Deck

Recall core first-principles prompts and choose when to use decomposition, inversion, or comparison.

Core prompt What is the first-principles reset question? Use it when the team is defending an inherited answer. What must be true for this answer to work? This question turns a solution into testable assumptions without immediately attacking it. Do not confuse these Fact vs. assumption: which one can carry the argument? First-principles reasoning can use assumptions, but it labels them before building on them. Objection handler We do not have time to rethink this from scratch. A stakeholder wants speed and fears analysis drag. Your line Agreed. Let's spend five minutes only on the load-bearing assumptions, not the whole…

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