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FIPS Releases New Edition of “First Principles Thinking Manual”

Factory for Innovative Policy Solutions • November 6, 2024

A. Verkerk & K. Grass (2024) First Principles Thinking Manual:

How to Generate Innovative Solutions to Today’s Societal Challenges

Get Your Copy

Five years after the first edition, we are happy to announce a new edition of the First Principles Thinking Manual: How to Generate Innovative Solutions to Today’s Societal Challenges.


Drawing on your feedback, a number of workshops and article contributions, this updated edition offers new theoretical insights and practical examples for anyone looking to apply first principles thinking in their work.


Available now on Amazon.com: First Principles Thinking Manual: How to Generate Innovative Solutions to Today's Societal Challenges: 9789090383927: Verkerk, Alexander, Grass, Kacper: Books


You can download a promo version HERE.


During the first five years, thousands of readers have downloaded and used the Manual in their problem-solving endeavours. Thank you for your support and we hope this new edition helps you solve your toughest challenges with fresh, innovative thinking!

About the Manual

First Principles Thinking (FPT) is a process to come up with new solutions and approaches by way of reverse-engineering societal challenges. It encourages you to critically question your assumptions about the challenge and break it down into basic components, after which you ask more critical questions that will surely inspire new ideas.

The fundamentals of FPT originate from Ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle, who used reason to make sense of the world. FPT has been further developed throughout the years, and is nowadays still being practised to innovate and solve problems, for example by Lee Kuan Yew, Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos.

However, contemporary works on FPT have not gone much further than simply listing a few action steps, which leaves much open to the intuition and interpretation of the applicant. For those who would like some more guidance, the First Principles Thinking Manual outlines a 7-step process, additional insights and examples. In doing so, the manual also demonstratively applies each step to the challenge of ensuring sufficient access to fresh water for residents of Cape Town, after which it invites readers to do the same for their own challenge.

Anyone can be a first principles thinker: students and professors, scientists and scholars, policymakers and philosophers as well as entrepreneurs or professionals from all fields and walks of life. All that is necessary is a passion for a problem to be tackled, an open and inquisitive mindset and the dedication to commit until innovative solutions are produced. If you believe that these qualities describe you, then we invite you to begin your journey to become a first principles thinker.

Contents

PART 1 - INTRODUCTION
1.1. The history and development of first principles thinking
1.2. Famous first principles thinkers
1.3. Common traits of first principles thinkers
1.4. When to use first principles thinking
1.5. What are societal challenges?


PART 2 - FIRST PRINCIPLES THINKING IN STEPS
2.1. Step I: Identify your objective
2.2. Step II: List the obstacles
2.3. Step III: Question your assumptions
2.4. Step IV: Uncover some first principles
2.5. Step V: Come up with new ideas
2.6. Step VI: Refine your ideas (optional)
2.7. Step VII: Select your solutions (optional)

PART 3 - FIRST PRINCIPLES THINKING COMPARED TO OTHER APPROACHES
3.1. Analogical thinking
3.2. Analytical thinking
3.3. Design thinking
3.4. Lateral thinking
3.5. Computational thinking
3.6. Moonshot thinking
3.7. Hypothesis-based thinking
3.8. First principles in abductive, deductive and inductive reasoning

PART 4 - APPLICATIONS OF FIRST PRINCIPLES THINKING
4.1. Individual level
4.2. Organisational level
4.3. Community level
4.4. Societal level
4.5. Research and education
4.6. First principles thinking in a team

PART 5 - FINAL REMARKS
5.1. Main lessons
5.2. Limitations (and how to deal with them)
5.3. Send us your feedback

PART 6 - ANNEXES
6.1. Key terms
6.2. Worksheets to apply steps 1-7 of first principles thinking
6.3. Summary overview of different approaches to problem-solving

PART 7 - REFERENCES

Testimonials from readers

  • The manual provides a clear framework to practice FPT. The case-study as an example was super helpful.
  • One of the things I love about the manual is the fact that it compiles research papers from different writers and thinkers using FPT.
  • It feels like you can apply FPT to all sorts of issues.

Apply first principles thinking yourself?

Would you like to apply first principles thinking yourself and have your problem-solving experience published in the First Principles Thinking Review? Then be sure to check out the submission guidelines and send us your rough idea or topic proposal. Our editorial team would be happy to work with you to turn that idea into an article. 

Submission guidelines

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Disclaimer : The views, thoughts and opinions expressed in submissions published by FIPS reflect those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views held by FIPS, the FIPS team or the authors' employer.


Copyrights : You are more than welcome to share this article. If you want to use this material, for example when writing an article of your own, keep in mind that we use cc license BY-NC-SA. Learn more about the cc license here .

What's new?

Using First Principles Thinking to Solve Our Hiring Heroes Problem in the United States

Using First Principles Thinking to Solve Our Hiring Heroes Problem in the United States

By Eric A. Wright, PhD • December 15, 2023
The challenge of reintegrating a nation-state’s military veteran back into its civilian workforce has persisted since the time of Caesar Augustus in Rome circa 13 BC. Therefore, it is time to innovate on this millennia-old communications problem and solve it, at least in the US, and First Principles Thinking is a time-tested problem-solving technique. The first step in applying the power of first principles thinking is to break the veteran hiring problem down into its seven fundamental elements, what Aristotle called first principles, to accurately define it. Then we can use five applicable philosophical razors to separate, i.e., shave off, our extant assumptions from the identified first principles to clear our clouded current thinking. Doing so then allows us to reassemble the first principles in a new way, creating an innovative solution to veteran hiring through first principles thinking, which we can implement, at least in the United States, using nine proven tools and techniques.

FIPS Releases its First Principles Thinking Review (Volume 3 / Issue 1)

By Factory for Innovative Policy Solutions • August 23, 2022
The Factory for Innovative Policy Solutions is proud to present you with the second volume of the First Principles Thinking Review. In the spring of 2020, we launched this publication with the aim of creating a space to host an international and interdisciplinary conversation about tackling societal challenges with first principles thinking. Over the past several months, a number of returning and first-time authors from different backgrounds and walks of life have contributed their thought-provoking ideas to the Review. In the following pages, you will learn about the role of first principles in the scientific method and how they shape the process from coming up with possible explanations, or hypotheses, to generating theories. Furthermore, you will see how first principles thinking can be applied to a wide array of challenges, from fighting homelessness to evaluating business opportunities. Finally, you will be granted an exclusive preview of state-of-the-art research being conducted on FPT.

“First Principles” by Thomas E. Ricks: A Book Review

By Kacper Grass • August 13, 2022
This review article provides a brief summary and analysis of First Principles by Thomas E. Ricks, in which the author explores how classical philosophy and first principles thinking influenced the Founding Fathers of the United States of America. The review also highlights how the author’s own political thinking draws on first principles and concludes by summarizing some of the strengths and shortcomings of his recent work.

First Principles Thinking as a Collaborative Effort to Bring Hope to a Troubled Neighbourhood

By Alexander Verkerk, Kacper Grass & Tom Kortenbach • January 9, 2022
This article presents the first principles thinking process as a collaborative effort undertaken by three problem-solvers from the Factory for Innovative Policy Solutions. In response to the challenge of improving living conditions in the Jan Luykenlaan neighbourhood of The Hague in the Netherlands, the team demonstrates how individually generated ideas can be synthesised in order to produce original approaches to achieving a common goal.

Can First Principles Thinking Spur Creative Ideas About Peace?

By Cate Griffiths • December 12, 2021
Does the language we use to talk about peace prevent peace? Defining peace in terms of conflict and violence seems to restrict peace-related activities to matters requiring negotiation, conflict resolution and violence prevention, and to evoke delimited emotional responses. I sense that new ideas about peace could only come from a systematic, first principles approach to a topic that is accepted as a social good but rarely examined this way. Perhaps such an exercise would strip back the concept to reveal the root experiences, behaviors and emotions we point to when we say, ‘this is peace’. I hope that by identifying the first principles of peace it might generate creative ideas to enable a new perception of peace, beyond the absence of violence, and that could be used to effectively promote peace.

The Role of First Principles Thinking in Singapore’s Nation-Building

By Zhennan Low • October 9, 2021
Upon becoming an independent city-state in 1965, Singapore had to overcome the challenges of nation-building in a small but culturally and ethnically diverse territory. In his search for solutions, Lee Kuan Yew (LKY), the country’s founding father, employed first principles thinking as a societal problem-solving technique. By identifying three first principles at the root of his challenge, LKY was able to overcome the obstacles of nation-building and lay the foundations for a cohesive and prosperous society in Singapore.
Unsplash - Using First Principles Thinking in Marketing How I Generated Media Attention to Help Feed

Using First Principles Thinking in Marketing: How I Generated Media Attention to Help Feed the Homeless

By Klint Ciriaco • August 2, 2021
In this article, I expand on my experiences of using first principles thinking in the field of marketing (Ciriaco, 2020). I begin by comparing first principles thinking to reasoning by analogy before providing an outline of the method’s fundamental steps. I then share a personal case study that illustrates how first principles thinking helped me find a way to get a nonprofit organization TV coverage with zero budget. The article concludes with a discussion of when it is and is not most advantageous to use first principles thinking in your work.
First Principles Thinking Review (Volume 2 / Issue 1) by the Factory for Innovative Policy Solutions

FIPS Releases its First Principles Thinking Review (Volume 2 / Issue 1)

By Factory for Innovative Policy Solutions • June 30, 2021
The Factory for Innovative Policy Solutions is proud to present you with the second volume of the First Principles Thinking Review. In the spring of 2020, we launched this publication with the aim of creating a space to host an international and interdisciplinary conversation about tackling societal challenges with first principles thinking. Over the past several months, a number of returning and first-time authors from different backgrounds and walks of life have contributed their thought-provoking ideas to the Review. In the following pages, you will learn about the role of first principles in the scientific method and how they shape the process from coming up with possible explanations, or hypotheses, to generating theories. Furthermore, you will see how first principles thinking can be applied to a wide array of challenges, from fighting homelessness to evaluating business opportunities. Finally, you will be granted an exclusive preview of state-of-the-art research being conducted on first principles thin
First Principles Thinking Innovation Kmar Hachicha Factory for Innovative Policy Solutions

What I Discovered Writing a Thesis on First Principles Thinking: An Interview with Kmar Hachicha

By Kmar Hachicha and the FIPS Team • June 20, 2021
In the following interview, Kmar Hachicha, a graduate student from the Technical University of Brunswick, offers the FIPS Team and its readers a unique insight into her novel research on first principles thinking as an innovation process. In the conversation that follows, she tells us about her thesis project, what she discovered as well as her experiences working with first principles thinking.
Giza Pyramid, first principles thinking, Factory for Innovative Policy Solutions

First Principles Thinking as a Tool to Come Up with Possible Explanations: How Were the Pyramids of Giza Built?

By Alexander Verkerk • June 16, 2021
First principles thinking can be used for several purposes, ranging from coming up with innovative solutions to contextualising your research and making decisions. The potential of this technique is far reaching, but several of its applications are underexposed. This article provides you with practical insights on another way in which the technique can be helpful: generating potential explanations (hypotheses). The example of finding out how the pyramids of Giza were built is used for illustration purposes and may not always be underpinned by fully accurate assumptions.
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