The gist: If you want to solve hard problems in unique ways, “first principles thinking” is the strategy that works for the world’s most creative people.

“If I had an hour to solve a problem and my life depended on the solution, I would spend the first 55 minutes determining the proper question to ask, for once I know the proper question, I could solve the problem in less than five minutes.” – Albert Einstein

How long does it take to get from Portland to Seattle? I make the trip several times each year, so it’s a question I ask myself often. The answer? About three hours in a car.  Four and a half on a train. 45 minutes on a plane.

But what if we were asking this question in 1899? I don’t know the answer, but it would take at least a day, and you’d have to feed your horse a lot.

Cars were around back then, of course, but they weren’t practical. They weren’t durable and they cost a fortune.

Then, in 1908, the first Model Ts rolled off the assembly line and, suddenly, travel became impossibly easier. Impossible because, until Henry Ford invented the assembly line, there was no cost efficient way to build a quality vehicle.

While others were happy to build cars for only the rich or content to write it off as an impractical technology Ford asked, “What would it cost to build this thing if I broke it down to its most basic materials and found a better way to put it together?” Look around outside and you’ll see the answer changed personal mobility forever.

To find that answer, Ford had to engage in a type of critical inquiry called “first principles thinking.” And he was hardly the first or only one to do it. Every great inventor has used it to solve problems that seemed impossible.

Putting this concept to work in your own life will make you fantastically more creative and capable of solving difficult problems.