Inertia, or Resistance to Change

Objects in motion tend to stay in motion.
Objects at rest tend to stay at rest.

Newton's First Law of Motion.

Sure, a marble on the table given a nudge will roll but it will also slow down.  The reason is the force applied to it from outside of the "system" of the marble and table.   It's called friction.

That is a basic principle of Physics, but it also applies to life.

Some people are much better with change, they can apply themselves and work through things as if it is water off of a duck's back.  Others are much more conservative and freak out when there's the slightest bit of a wrinkle on that double oxford broad cloth shirt.

Instead of grabbing an iron, those folks will wring their hands and fret.

The point is that while things can be done, they almost always can be done more ways than one.  Toss the shirt out and buy new.  Of course that new one will still need to be ironed, but don't say anything until they get that home from the mall.

There's always a judgment call that has to be made as well.  How much effort needs to be applied to cause the change to happen?  Can we live with the results if we do or don't change things?

If you keep asking questions like that you eventually end up with a tree of yes/no answers and build a process.  Things tend to sort themselves out in order.   If you don't proceed in order you will end up revisiting things later, usually caused by a resistance to change, a rigidity of thought.

Can you take things in one big bite or can you divide and conquer?

All binary questions.  Yes, or No?

That would be the basis for a systemic analysis of a project.   Laying out all the alternatives, in order, and following the path of least resistance.

Oversimplified, but that is the meaning of "basis".

Of course there are shades of grey, but they are usually held back for a later time. Especially if there are 50 of them, and that is a very different story indeed.