Melissa Tan: evaluation

Transcript context

…Last question before we get to a very exciting lightning round. You've brought up this concept of first principles thinking. I'm curious how you measure that and how you get a sense of, is this person strong at first principles thinking? It's definitely a word I use a lot. First principles thinking, I think of it as you are not using a set framework and set formula, but you're creating your own based on the context that you're getting. And so when I think about first principles thinking often it is knowing what questions to ask so that you can start forming a mental model. And then it is actually starting to form that mental model and then knowing to evolve it and knowing when it's not working and really coming from a place of curiosity of is this really working? This is something that I'm known for on my team as well, which is I ask tons of questions, but it doesn't come from a place of wanting to show that I'm asking good questions or anything that comes from a place of trying to solve the problem and making sure that we're always solving the problem at hand, making sure we're doing the right things. If there's new information, do we actually still want to do it this way? And so I think first principles thinking is often about asking questions and then creating your own framework. That's how I would define it. And it's maybe another way to describe it is critical thinking. It's like you're able to think very critically, and I think it's important to, at least for me, create a culture where that's okay. I think the moment you have a culture where people aren't asking questions aren't constantly revisiting their work, that's when you're not maybe pushing yourself to do your best work. And I think it also just creates a fun environment where we're like, "Oh yeah, why are we doing this?" And really leading with your curiosity. Is there an example of a person or moment or question that comes to mind of this is an epitome of a first principles thinker moment or question or a way of approaching something?…

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