For every project, ask:

• What system underlies the project?
• is it a relationship, a business, a product, or something else with multiple components relying on each other?
• Is this system already efficient?
• If not, what are the ironclad principles underlying it?
• Can I start over from those principles to identify a remarkably better way to design the system?

One level higher:

• Ask if you're optimizing a cog in a machine instead of the machine itself. The higher the level you can optimize, the greater is your ROI.

Optimizing Systems:

• Identify the system you are working with: is it a process, a business, a machine or a state of being.

  What to do when you've encountered an imp system:

  1. Go One level higher: Ask if you're optimizing a cog in a machine instead of the machine itself. The higher the level you can optimize, the greater is your ROI.

  2. Use Theory of constraints: Usually, in a machine/system, one part is usually a reason for limiting the output of other parts. We need to identify such parts and improve them to improve overall efficiency.

  3. First Principles: If the Theory of constraints doesn't work out well, discard the whole system and reason from the first principles (fundamental truth) to rebuild the whole system from ground up.

Making Decisions:

1. Long-Term: Regret Minimization
2. Medium-Term: Pareto's principle
3. Short-Term: use ICE (check below to read more)
4. Immediate: Eisenhower Matrix

ICE:

When facing many options, score each on the 3 variables using a scale of 1-10:

• How much positive impact the option would have if it succeeded
• The confidence you have that this option will succeed if you attempt it

• How easy (low recourse, low time) it would be to pursue this option

  Add all the scores and find out avg to weigh against each other.

Eisenhower Matrix: