Twitter CEO Linda Yaccarino's Changes For Twitter Boils Down to Two Words: First Principle The new Twitter CEO Linda Yaccarino sent her first memo to the social networking team. What has caught the internet's attention though is one sentence that inclines towards Yaccarino's plans that change Twitter's current way of working. Our interest, in particular, are two specific words: First Principle.

The new Twitter CEO Linda Yaccarino sent her first memo to the social networking team. Like any new CEO, Linda's memo entitled "Building Twitter 2.0 Together" is filled with tons of 'corporate-speak' which simply put is general optimistic statements. Some of these blanket statements include "We need to think big", "We need to transform", "Literally everything is possible" and "You have to genuinely believe."

What has caught the internet's attention though is one sentence that inclines towards Yaccarino's plans that change Twitter's current way of working. "And we can do it all by starting from first principles- questioning our assumptions and building something new from the ground up," she wrote. What has tweaked our interest, in particular, are two specific words: First Principle.

What is the First Principle?

Now, the concept of first-principle thinking has existed before but mainly in the world of physics. A lesser-known fact however is that it (first principle) is also related to emotional intelligence, specifically the ability to understand and manage emotions. Coming to what the 'first principle' actually is. The first principle is a basic truth. It's not an assumption that something is true based on popularity or analogy; rather, it is fundamentally sound and can be proved. The first principle is a great way to solve problems using emotional intelligence as it helps you think rationally and keep emotions from clouding your decision-making process. This also helps you avoid social pressure where one does things solely because others are also doing the same or because it is the way that has always been followed.

Examples of first principle thinking

Biology teaches us that a person needs oxygen, water, and food (in that order), or they will die. Using the first principle, man has over time been able to send people deep underwater and into outer space for long periods by covering these basic needs. Similarly, if a company hires an employee, it has significant costs and legal responsibilities to fulfil. Start-ups and bootstrapped companies can increase working capital and decrease legal risk by working with freelancers instead of hiring employees, by using first-principle thinking. The same works at a group or team level. In basketball, the team with the most points when time runs out wins the game. An NBA team in the US named Golden State Warriors focused on playing with a smaller, faster lineup that shot more three-pointers. Doing so helped them win multiple championships and changed the way many teams approach the game.

It does not come as much of a surprise that Yaccarino spoke about applying first-principle thinking at Twitter, given in the past her predecessor Elon Musk credited it for the success of his companies. Tesla gained a huge competitive advantage by focusing on producing large car batteries for less money. Similarly, SpaceX has succeeded because engineers found a way to efficiently reuse rockets, an idea scoffed at by experts years ago.

How can first principles help you?

A way to apply first principle thinking is by breaking a problem down to its simplest components and then building a solution. Think about what parts of this problem that you absolutely need. Then look at what can be removed or added to help you create a flow between these requirements and your goals. This process can be followed in three steps. First, you identify and define your current assumptions, for example, growing your business is too expensive. The second step then is to break the problem into fundamental principles. Over here, what does your business need to grow profitable? The answer would be selling more products. Does this have to cost a lot? Not if you access these customers inexpensively. The last step now is the solution, which to our problem is probably partnering with other businesses that serve the same customer and split the profits.

The first principle simply lets you or anyone go back to basics, manage your emotions, and solve a problem from a brand-new perspective.