Can First Principles thinking make you a better people leader?

First Principles Thinking is a method of problem-solving that breaks down problems to a foundational assumption or proposition that cannot be broken down any further.

I love Jame’s Clear’s explanation of it:

The most famous First Principle thinker is controversial (SpaceX, Tesla, and now X owner, Elon Musk) and far from someone considered a ‘good people leader.’

But the practice of breaking down problems to their first principles, especially in people leadership, is a promising tool to identify and remove assumptions from how we make decisions.

In business, taking a First Principles approach can help you:

• Make better decisions

• Reduce overwhelm

• Drive successful outcomes

Can it do the same for people leadership?

Let’s break it down.

First Principles Leadership Framework

Your job as a leader in the business: make effective decisions.

As a people leader, you need to inspire, guide, and coach your team to execute within and improve on those decisions.

That doesn’t just mean setting a direction and telling people to go get it. It means understanding the roadblocks that create problems along the way and effectively solving them, too.

Here’s an example:

Ben is disengaged. His works is always done when it’s supposed to, but he shows up to meetings without enthusiasm and hasn’t done much relationship building with his peers in the business.

There’s a big project coming up that you have the opportunity to staff. It would be a cool stretch assignment and potential career-builder for someone on your team. Given Ben’s role, he should be a shoe-in. But based on what you’re seeing, you decide to skip him for the opportunity.

Let’s take a look at how we can make a better people leadership decision using First Principles Thinking:

Identify your assumptions

First, you need to break through what you think you know (assumptions) to your circle of competence: what you actually know.

List out of all of the assumptions you have about the situation:

• Ben’s lack of enthusiasm would make it difficult for him to excel on this stretch opportunity

• Ben hasn’t built peer relationships across the business

• The stretch opportunity requires enthusiasm to be successful

Breakdown the problem

Next, you need to breakdown the problems to their first principles. What is really truth of the scenario?

Problem #1: Ben’s disengagement

• When Ben started, he was a super positive person with a ton of energy. He wanted to take more on, but was held back by strict role definitions and office politics

• Over time and with enough “no’s”, Ben’s enthusiasm waned until he was just punching the clock

Going a level or two deeper into Ben’s disengagement paints a different picture. It’s clear that Ben hasn’t been given the opportunities that would keep him engaged.

Create solutions

This is where you can think creatively about how to solve the real problem.

The problem isn’t Ben’s disengagement. It’s how to provide more opportunities to keep your team engaged.

In this example, the solution is a slam dunk: give Ben the stretch assignment!

Why I like First Principle thinking for people leadership

First Principle thinking is a great way to think differently about people problems. It forces you to pause, remove assumptions, and to get to the root of what’s going on.

The cherry on top for me? It can also help make decision making more equitable because it removes the fluff.

Have you tried a First Principles approach to people leadership? How did it go? Or is it something you want to try?

In the world of Talent

🤝 Am I open to hearing another point of view? When you’re competing, the goal is to win. But in business, what really gets results is cooperation. Kimberly Pencille Collins shared exceptional leadership advice to consider when presented with a counter-view:

Pause and ask yourself, “Am I open to hearing another point of view?”

Read her full post here.

❤️ Goal-setting framework I love: I caught up with Cassidy Edwards recently and her tip for breaking down goals is important: use versioning. Instead of setting one big goal, set A, B, and C versions of the same goal. Let’s apply it to fitness. If the outcome you want is to be more active, your A, B, and C goals might look like this:

A: run a mile every day
B: run a mile 4-5x / week
C: walk for 30min at least 3x / week

That way, you don’t get defeated by not hitting your A goal. Instead, you can stay motivated knowing that you’re still showing up, even if what you had to give was less this week.

👏 World Down Syndrome Day and a kick-ass campaign: “Assume that I can so maybe I will” is an ad that was released last week to raise awareness for World Down Syndrome Day (March 21). It was produced by CoorDown and Small New York in association with the National Down Syndrome Society (NDSS) and is an absolute powerhouse video that forces viewers to challenge stereotypes. It stopped me in my tracks when I first saw it and encourage you to give it a watch if you haven’t already:

Kat’s corner

🏀 March Madness is in full swing: one weekend in the books (almost) and my bracket is BUSTED. Just the way I like it. I’ll be consumed by basketball through the first weekend in April. If you follow too, who do you have winning it all?

🫶 Special shout-out: this week was a special one. We took our kids to Disneyland for the first time and had just about the best time ever. This weekend’s shoutout goes to my MIL, Molly, who did the whole trip with us! We love you and would have been utterly lost without you, Molly! Plus, the boys made a core memory with their Ganni 🥰.

✍️ Interested in writing your own newsletter? Use my link to sign up for beehiiv and start growing an audience. I’ve been writing consistently since October 2023 and just started on the partner program!