# The Problem Deconstruction Worksheet **A companion tool for *The First Principles Playbook* by Jonas Vogelberg** Use this worksheet whenever you face a complex, ambiguous, or stuck problem. It walks you through the same reasoning process taught in the book — breaking a challenge down to what is actually true, separating facts from assumptions, and rebuilding toward a clear next move. Print it, copy it into a document, or work through it digitally. One problem per worksheet. --- ## Step 1: State the Problem Without Embedding a Solution Write the problem as a need or frustration — not as a missing feature or preferred fix. ❌ "We need a new CRM system." ✅ "Our team loses track of customer conversations, and follow-ups fall through the cracks." **Your problem:** _____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ *(Tip: If your statement contains a product name, tool, or specific solution, rewrite it. Ask: "What problem am I really trying to solve?" — Ch 1)* --- ## Step 2: List Every Assumption Write down everything you believe to be true about this problem — constraints, causes, costs, timelines, customer preferences, technical limits, "the way things are done." Don't filter yet. Get them all on paper. | # | Assumption | |---|---| | 1 | | | 2 | | | 3 | | | 4 | | | 5 | | | 6 | | | 7 | | | 8 | | *(Add more rows as needed. "List all your assumptions about a problem. Then, test each assumption individually." — Ch 1)* --- ## Step 3: Label Each Assumption For every assumption above, classify it: - **Known fact** — You have direct evidence (data, measurement, law of physics, regulation). - **Inferred** — You believe it based on experience, pattern, or secondhand information, but haven't verified it for this specific situation. - **Inherited / convention** — "It's always been done this way." You accepted it without questioning. | # | Assumption (short) | Known fact | Inferred | Inherited | Evidence (if any) | |---|---|---|---|---|---| | 1 | | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | | | 2 | | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | | | 3 | | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | | | 4 | | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | | | 5 | | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | | | 6 | | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | | | 7 | | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | | | 8 | | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | | *(The book distinguishes "genuine constraints" from "mere habits or traditions" — Ch 1, Ch 3, Ch 7. This step makes the distinction visible.)* --- ## Step 4: Record Hard Constraints From the table above, pull out only the **known facts** — the things you genuinely cannot change. These are your hard constraints: physical laws, binding regulations, confirmed budgets, verified deadlines. | Hard constraint | Why it's truly immovable | |---|---| | | | | | | | | | Everything NOT on this list is open for questioning. --- ## Step 5: Rewrite the Problem Using Only Verified Fundamentals Now restate the problem using only the hard constraints and verified facts. Strip out the inherited assumptions. **Rewritten problem:** _____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ *(Does this version open up possibilities that the original framing didn't? "What if we send video content without needing a physical disc?" — the Netflix question, Ch 3)* --- ## Step 6: Generate Three Materially Different Options Don't optimize one idea. Generate at least three options that take genuinely different approaches. Use the "What If?" mindset from Ch 3 — temporarily suspend perceived constraints. | Option | Approach | Which inherited assumptions does it challenge? | |---|---|---| | A | | | | B | | | | C | | | *(Try the Inversion Technique from Ch 9: "How could we make this problem worse?" Then flip each answer into a potential solution.)* --- ## Step 7: Select the Cheapest Informative Test Don't commit to a full solution yet. Pick the option (or element of an option) you can test fastest with the least resources. **What will you test?** _____________________________________________________________ **How will you test it?** (pilot, prototype, conversation, data pull, experiment) _____________________________________________________________ **What specific result would confirm your hypothesis?** _____________________________________________________________ **What result would change your mind?** _____________________________________________________________ **Timeline and cost of this test:** _____________________________________________________________ *(The book emphasizes "test early, test often" — Ch 3, Ch 5, and the Pilot Project approach in Ch 9. The goal is evidence, not perfection.)* --- ## Step 8: Record What You Learned After running the test, come back and fill this in. **What happened?** _____________________________________________________________ **Which assumptions were confirmed?** _____________________________________________________________ **Which assumptions were wrong or incomplete?** _____________________________________________________________ **What's the next move?** ☐ Run a refined test (go back to Step 7 with updated assumptions) ☐ Commit to this direction and scale up ☐ Try a different option from Step 6 ☐ Reframe the problem entirely (go back to Step 1) --- ## Quick Reference: When to Use First-Principles Thinking Not every problem needs this level of decomposition. Use this worksheet when: - ✅ The problem is **stuck** — standard approaches aren't working - ✅ The stakes are **high** — the cost of a wrong answer is significant - ✅ The situation is **novel** — no reliable precedent exists - ✅ You suspect a solution is **built on unexamined assumptions** - ✅ A team keeps **optimizing a process that may not need to exist** Use proven frameworks and best practices when: - The problem is **routine** and well-understood - The cost of a custom solution outweighs the benefit - Time pressure demands a **known-good answer** immediately *(The book acknowledges real-world constraints: "First Principles Thinking is not about daydreaming in a vacuum but about focusing on what's truly crucial and possible." — Ch 1)* --- **From *The First Principles Playbook: Transform Your Thinking for Rapid Results* by Jonas Vogelberg** Available on Amazon: https://a.co/d/09QjpoNr *This worksheet is a free companion tool. Share it with anyone who might find it useful.*