Actually, on re-reading the piece, the author isn&#x27;t claiming he thought up this argument on the spur of the moment.  I got confused because of the dramatic narrative, which started with the meeting already going on before the author started talking about his thought process.  I now think the author is saying this &quot;first-principles&quot; reasoning is a good way to credibly explain strategic decisions, which makes a lot more sense than using it to deduce strategic decisions.