First principles

In a meeting room in 2016, my ears perked up. A much smarter person than me had taken a moment to reflect and said, “Let’s bring this back to first principles”. I nodded like I knew what that meant. I mean, I had a general idea... but I didn't realise the magical power that incantation holds. Many times since, I’ve seen those words duck and weave the strongest egos, opinions, and personalities. I…