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- Effectively First-Principled
This week on the “Think Like Amazon” podcast, I had the chance to talk with Steve from A Life Engineered, someone who’s gone from English major to senior Amazon engineer to creator and community builder. What really stood out in our conversation wasn’t just his journey, but the clarity with which he approaches decisions. At the center of that clarity is a concept he constantly went back to: First principles thinking.
This idea is a mindset that anyone can use to break through confusion, get unstuck, and stop playing by rules you didn’t agree to in the first place.
Tip of the week: Want to think bigger? Start by questioning what you're building on, not just what you’re building.
THE THEORY
First principles thinking means stripping things down to what’s actually true. It’s asking: “What is this really for?” and “What has to be true for this to work?” instead of “What’s worked before?” or “How do we usually do it?” It’s not about being clever, it’s about being clear. Whether you’re designing a product, planning your career, or making a big decision, thinking from first principles means starting from scratch, not assumptions.
This kind of thinking is a skill, and it gets better with use. You don’t need to be a genius to think from first principles. You just need to practice asking better questions. A few simple ones to start with: “What’s the purpose here?”, “What would this look like if I started from zero?”, “What do I know is definitely true?” You can use this thinking on everything from strategy to scheduling. It's how I think through content, decisions, and even how I coach others.
Principles and values are different (but connected). Here’s the difference in plain terms: First principles are truths you use to reason and make decisions (“Time is finite,” “You can’t control outcomes, only inputs”). Values are the priorities that guide your choices (“We believe in transparency,” “Family comes first”). One is a tool for thinking. The other is a guide for choosing. They support each other, but mixing them up creates confusion. You need both to make decisions that are both smart and meaningful.
MY PERSONAL THOUGHTS
If you don’t define your own principles, someone else will. This was something Steve and I both experienced during and after our time at Amazon. When you work at a company with strong principles, you adopt them naturally, and that can be great. But when you leave, you suddenly realize: you were living by someone else’s rules. Defining your own principles gives you an anchor. Without that, it’s easy to drift toward what’s loudest or most urgent instead of what’s true to you.
I always try to come back to first principles. Whenever I’m overwhelmed by complexity, I zoom out and ask, “What’s the actual point of this?” One of the best examples from my conversation with Steve was this: Imagine you're building a car. Then your manager tells you to think bigger, so you make a faster car. Then a faster one. Then a rocket ship. But the real first-principles question is: “Why are we in the vehicles business at all?” Maybe the goal isn’t speed. Maybe the customer just wants to stay put. This is the power of first principles: it helps you stop climbing the wrong hill, and start asking if you’re even on the right one.
HOW TO PUT THIS INTO PRACTICE
Pick something that feels unclear, bloated, or stuck. This could be a work process, a personal habit, or a team project.
Break it down using first principles. Ask: What’s this actually for? What has to be true for this to work? What’s real vs assumed?
Check if you’re on a local maximum. Are you just making this thing faster, cleaner, more complex - without questioning why it exists at all? That’s the “faster car vs. do we even need a car?” moment.
Bring your values in. Now that you’ve cleared the noise, ask: What matters most to you here? This is where principles meet purpose.
Rebuild a simpler version (or abandon it). Once you’ve stripped things down and rethought them, you’ll either spot a better solution or realize you don’t need one. Either way, you’re moving with clarity.
If you read this far, you should consider listening to the whole episode. If you’ve ever been told to “think bigger” but didn’t know where to start… this is it.
Principally,
Jorge Luis Pando
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