In last weekâs New York Times Corner Office column, Adam Bryant interviewed Abe Ankumah, CEO and founder of the software company Nyansa. Ankumah discussed the importance of cultivating âfirst principleâ thinkers in your organization. He wants people who donât just to creating a solution without first understanding and defining the problem in a crystal-clear fashion. Hereâs Ankumah explaining his âfirst principleâ approach:
I think startÂups kind of take on the value system of their founders. There are three of us who started the company, and weâre all firstÂ-time entrepreneurs. We tend to be very âfirst principleâ thinkers. What I mean by that is when youâre trying to solve a problem, you start by trying to understand the essence of the problem, rather than starting with what the answer should be and then working your way to justifying it. So itâs all about making sure that everyone understands the problem weâre trying to solve. And to do that, you have to maintain a broader perspective and listen very carefully to people.