Mental Models

First Principles

Reduce to atomic truths, rebuild up

Best for: questioning received wisdom
Time: 1–2 hr
Difficulty: Advanced

Example

Re-thinking enterprise sales from first principles, not playbook

Reduce, then rebuild

Atom 1 — buyer wants to reduce a specific risk or cost
Atom 2 — buyer needs proof from a peer, not a vendor
Atom 3 — buyer's procurement adds delay, not value
Rebuilt approach — lead with a written case study, skip the demo
Rebuilt approach — give legal templates upfront to compress procurement

Related frameworks

Occam's Razor

Prefer the simplest explanation

Chesterton's Fence

Don't remove what you don't understand

Circle of Competence

Know what you know — and don't

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