“First principles thinking” is an extraordinary concept.
It’s been recently popularized by Elon Musk, who is, as I write this article, the richest man on the planet. His extraordinary achievements include building the three tech giants Paypal, Tesla Motors and SpaceX.
While he admits that luck played a part, as it plays a part in all business and career ventures, we cannot ignore his work ethic (he works 100 hour weeks). We also cannot ignore his ability to solve seemingly unsolvable problems.
That second part (solving seemingly unsolvable problems) through creative means is very interesting to me. And I have to admit, lucky or deserved, ‘creative breakthroughs’ have been the cornerstone of any of my achievements as well as the success of pretty much everyone around me.
So.. What exactly are these creative breakthroughs? And how can we increase their frequency?
What is the process that shatters expectations and propels your problem solving ability to the next level?
And most importantly, how can we apply it to career development, including the ability to get jobs you are seemingly unqualified for, or for getting rapid promotions – much beyond reasonable expectations?
It’s Called “First Principles Thinking“
As Musk explains, this is basically “boiling things down to their fundamental truths and reasoning up from there”.
In other words, it’s the practice of questioning EVERY assumption you think you “know” about a situation, and then, figuring out solutions from scratch. Bottom up thinking. Going back to the axioms. Good stuff.
You can formulate it into the following three steps:
- Identify your assumptions
- Break your problem down into fundamental principles
- Innovate new solutions (from scratch, bottom up)
Let me demonstrate how to apply first principles thinking to getting a high value job.
Step 1 – Assumptions
What are our assumptions about getting a high-value job?
You need experience. You need contacts. You need to network. You need some pedigree or brand name recognition. You need a Ivy League degree. You need a public track record of success. You need a solid reputation. You need to be charismatic or good looking. You need allies, executives or recruiters on your side. You need to be “in the club”. You need to have relevant industry experience.
These are the basic assumptions most people come with when trying to develop their career. But, in truth, these are only the surface level assumptions…
There are some even deeper level assumptions. If you question these, most people will look at you as a weird crazy person, because questioning these deep assumptions seem completely radical. The deep assumptions about career development and getting a high-value job are:
You need to have skills. You need to be smart. You need to be competent. You need to have a resume. You need to apply and get an interview. You need to find an open job to apply to. You need to have some understanding of the industry. You need to work really hard and keep soliciting people like a pest until you get the job you want. You need to be able to, at least on paper, do the job.
Every time someone is interested in gaining control of their career and ascending into the ranks of high-value professionals, whether they know it or not, they start from a position where they are making pretty much ALL of these untested deep assumptions, and most of the surface level assumptions.
And that – is a recipe for disaster! Because none of these assumptions work in your favor. They are constructed to assist the status quo in maintaining power.
Let’s Break These Assumptions…
Fortunately, both the surface level and the deep assumptions are that… They are just assumptions. And pretty much all of them need to be challenged, circumvented or wholesale eliminated.
In fact, when you know what you’re doing, most of these assumptions can just be ignored quite easily – assuming you get the fundamentals.
Step 2 – Fundamentals
At the end of the day, the fundamental of getting a high-value job – or any job for that matter – is extraordinarily simple.
“You get the job when someone in charge gives it to you.”
That’s it! That’s the core of it.
And how is it, exactly do those “someones in charge” give you the job?
Here are the key first principles about getting that job:
- An employer with the capacity to pay, agrees to pay a professional to do things that can be labeled as “work”.
- The employer is not usually, directly, paying out of their own pocket. (Most owners and investors do not hire people, managers do)
- The selection process can be competitive when you have multiple applicants or exceedingly simple when you have very few applicants. (Demand rules the resistance you encounter)
- The employer – who is a human being – decides who gets hired for the job.
- It is usually the hiring manager that has the final say.
- In most cases hiring managers can rule over HR, but not always. Sometimes HR also needs to be wooed.
- The hiring manager must be aware of you to give you the job.
- The hiring manager must know your intent that you want the job.
- The hiring manager must believe that you are capable of doing the job.
- The human hiring manager uses their human brain (i.e. think and decide) to make the hiring call.
- Everything that applies to the hiring manager may apply to HR as well.
These may sound obtusely, ridiculously, and needlessly simple principles. They are obvious…. But… Counter to what you may think, that’s exactly why they are so powerful!
You see… Using these first principles, we can construct a new methodology for applying to high value jobs that work much better than the typical “craft of a resume, send countless job applications, jump through HR’s hoops, and suck up to everyone you can” process.
This is where we innovate…
Step 3 – Innovation
When you boil it down, getting a (high-value) job requires identifying the hiring manager (and possibly HR) and convincing them to hire you.
And instead of the typical process, we can find alternative means for getting hired, that still respects the fundamentals. One such process – which we teach in a step by step manner in our courses – goes as follows:
- Identify the type of job you want
- Identify a target hiring manager for the job you want, even if the job is not open
- Capture their attention so that they *see* and *hear* you (there are dozens of trivially simple techniques for this)
- Demonstrate that you are qualified for the job (see Language of Value)
- AFTER that demonstration, show your intent for the position (AFTER the demonstration of qualification is the KEY here, as it lowers defensiveness)
- Hijack the process of finalizing the deal by making it easy to say yes (again, all formulaic, you just have to read a script)
Sounds simple enough right?
This new job getting architecture, which is part of our “Warm Application Process” works wonders. Of course, there are quite a few crucial details to getting it to work. But they are all simple, easy to understand details.
While the vast majority of people fight over scraps and bend over backwards, boot-licking HR gatekeepers or filling 27 page online forms – not to mention – wasting a colossal amount of time for the privilege of being put into a pipeline that leads to a dead end job… Using this process, you can turn the tables with the corporate world and change the way the game is played.
In fact, that’s the whole point of our organization and this website… To help you turn the tables with the corporate world so that you are treated as a human being rather than a human resource…
And remember…
THE GAME IS RIGGED!
(Sidenote: This is a serious point, please pay close attention)
It reminds me of the original Star Trek series and the Episode called “Kobayashi Maroon Scenario”…
For those who haven’t seen it, in the series, command officers have to go through this simulation to test their metal in making hard decisions. The simulation – called Kobayashi Maroon – is a pre-programmed no win situation where your ship gets marooned, and despite your actions, it is setup so that your ship is always destroyed. It’s an exercise in futility.
The intention behind the simulation is to teach officers, who may one day become captains, that they may be in unwinnable situations. Sometimes, in those unwinnable situations, many people’s lives, including your crew’s life, depends on your words. Therefore, you need to develop the emotional fortitude and calm wisdom required to handle such responsibility, hence… The simulation to test your metal.
What’s interesting about this episode is that, Captain Kirk, the original protagonists of the franchise, becomes the only person who beats this unwinnable simulation, causing a lot of controversy and notoriety. A bunch of wound up bureaucrats get super mad for breaking their rigged game. Others see him as a (deserved) hero.
And how does he beat the simulation you might ask?
He hacks the simulation and re-programs it before he takes the simulation, so that he can win! 🤣
Lesson within a lesson… Not to diminish the importance of developing fortitude and wisdom, the episode also injects the notion that the games you play can be rigged, and you need to DARE to win by playing outside the expected rules…
You do that, by playing with first principles…
This episode is not only an ingenious depiction of the world we live in, but it is also a fantastic example of first principles thinking.
You see… Society pretends that the career game is about merit and capability. But studies and statistics, as well as the experience of anyone who is paying the slightest bit of attention, demonstrate a completely different world.
We live in a society that likes to pretend that corporate hierarchies are justified, and only those that truly deserve the job, the “best” candidates always get the job. Sometimes that best is based on merit. Other times it’s based on equity. Either way, there is a “best” constructed based on the ideals of the people in charge.
Yet, deep down inside, we all know that’s not the case. And some of us, don’t need to go that deep down to realize it.
When Faced With The Realization That The Game Is Rigged
Most people get frustrated, complain, get dejected, and even try to revolt against the system. Others find ways to numb themselves and cope. I think both are all losing hands.
I see the injustice and the rigged nature of the game not as an assault on me or my student’s freedom. On the contrary, I see it as a challenge fit for our skills. I see it as a call to resilience, so that we get to have the last laugh.
“To be like the rock that the waves keep crashing over. It stands unmoved and the raging of the sea falls still around it.”
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations
Yes. The game is rigged. And despite the rigging, we will win. In fact, some of us figured out how to win!
Some of us HAVE turned the tables with the corporate world. And for those individuals who are up to the challenge, we are happy to show you our ways.
Are you up to the challenge?
Think on that… And when you’re ready, you know where to find us.