Crisis Communications and the Power of First Principles Thinking

When I created my strategic communications consultancy in 2024, I named it Truth Advisors because of a core philosophy that has always guided my work: start with the truth, and work from there.

Beginning with the truth is not about righteousness or morality. Rather, it’s an approach that allows you to distill a difficult situation down its most basic components, offering clarity in both strategy and messaging.

In fact, this method can be applied to solving all kinds of problems, and it has a name: First Principles Thinking.

Origin Story

I’d love to claim credit for this profoundly simple yet effective approach to problem solving. But it’s actually been around for centuries, apparently spearheaded by the great philosopher Aristotle. He developed a group of unassailable truths – which he called “archai,” from the ancient Greek word for “origin” – that formed the basis of his work in scientific inquiry and philosophical reasoning.

Like building a tower, the idea is to start with a solid foundation of unassailable truth, then add assumptions and conjecture until a viable solution is identified. Over the years, First Principles Thinking has become a central tenet to everything from scientific discovery to business innovation. And I believe it can be incredibly useful in addressing complex communications challenges. 

Solve the Real Problem

Several years ago, when I was working for a large global PR firm, I was asked to help manage a crisis involving bus drivers who were striking against the Atlanta public schools. Supposedly the drivers were striking for better terms with the new transportation company that had just been awarded the school bus contract. But our intel suggested they were told to strike by at least one school board member who was unhappy that the contract had not been granted to the longtime incumbent.

While we theorized on ways to encourage the bus drivers to return to work, the newly placed general manager of the transportation company focused on the real problem: getting thousands of schoolkids to school safely and on time. The first day – with only a percentage of drivers doing double and triple duty to cover all the routes – our communications focused on updating parents with revised schedules, then providing a detailed accounting of our performance.

By the second day it became obvious we would need more drivers, if only on a temporary basis, to help get more kids to school on time. The only requirements were a commercial driver’s license, passing a road test, and availability during the necessary morning and afternoon hours.

And then it dawned on us: by convincing striking drivers that their jobs were at risk – Georgia is a right-to-work state, so their positions were not protected – perhaps they would realize they were better off returning to work than sitting out for a cause that really had nothing to do with them.

That afternoon we announced an open house would be held the next day, highlighting the great pay, flexible schedule and other benefits that came with the job. And we invited local media to show the hundreds of people who lined up to take the road test and qualify as replacement drivers. By week’s end, the original drivers were back and the strike was over.

I didn’t realize it at the time, but we had successfully applied First Principles Thinking to solving the crisis. The only thing that mattered – the truth, if you will – was getting kids to school. By making that our priority and sharing it with the world, we won support from parents, the school system and ultimately the drivers who had been taken advantage of in the first place. 

I’ve since had the opportunity to consciously apply the First Principles method of problem-solving to scores of crises and other challenging communications scenarios, with great success. If you’re facing a complex matter and don’t know which way to turn, reach out to me at barry@startwithtruth.com – I love using truth to help navigate turbulent waters.