first-principles-decomposer

First Principles Decomposer

When To Use

• Designing new products or features
• Feeling stuck on a complex problem
• Existing solutions seem overcomplicated
• Need to challenge assumptions
• Starting any new project or initiative

The Process

Phase 1: Identify Assumptions

Ask: "What am I assuming to be true that might not be?" List every assumption embedded in the current approach.

Phase 2: Break to Atoms

For each assumption, ask: "What is the most fundamental truth here?" Keep asking "why?" until you hit bedrock facts.

Phase 3: Rebuild From Truth

Starting ONLY from verified fundamentals, ask: "What's the simplest solution that addresses the core need?"

Interactive Flow

When user invokes this skill:

1. Clarify the problem (1-2 questions max)
2. Surface assumptions - list what's being taken for granted
3. Decompose to fundamentals - show the atomic truths
4. Rebuild solution - construct from ground up
5. Compare - show how this differs from conventional approach

Output Format

PROBLEM: [stated problem]

ASSUMPTIONS IDENTIFIED:
1. [assumption] → Challenge: [why this might be wrong]
2. [assumption] → Challenge: [why this might be wrong]

FUNDAMENTAL TRUTHS:
• [bedrock fact 1]
• [bedrock fact 2]
• [bedrock fact 3]

REBUILT SOLUTION:
[New approach built only from fundamentals]

VS CONVENTIONAL:
[How this differs from the obvious approach]

Example Triggers

• "Break down our parent communication problem from first principles"
• "I want to rethink how we do [X] from the ground up"
• "What are we assuming about [problem] that might be wrong?"

Integration

This skill compounds with:

• inversion-strategist - After rebuilding from fundamentals, invert to find what would guarantee failure of the new approach
• second-order-consequences - Project downstream effects of implementing the rebuilt solution
• pre-mortem-analyst - Stress-test the rebuilt solution by imagining its failure
• six-thinking-hats - Apply all six perspectives to validate each fundamental truth identified

Skill Metadata

Created: 2026-01-06 Last Updated: 2026-01-06 Author: Artem Version: 1.0

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See references/framework.md for detailed methodology See references/examples.md for Artem-specific examples See references/integrated-frameworks.md for Stanford Design Thinking + MIT Systems Engineering combo