How To Write: Quick Pro Guide to The Pyramid Principle (5 Min Read)
There is a reputable guide to the Pyramid Principle here, written by an actual ex-McKinsey consultant. I will try to add more nuance & not…
There is a reputable guide to the Pyramid Principle here, written by an actual ex-McKinsey consultant. I will try to add more nuance & not repeat what that blog post says.
Basic Checklist (If You Have To Craft a Message Now)
Have you developed your thinking?
When you haven’t developed your thinking yet, use the bottom-up approach (list all things on your mind, which will hopefully roll up into a top-level insight). However, once you type it you fall in love with it (100%), so don’t just “get it all out”.
Always try to use the top-down approach first, which starts with…
The Introductory Flow (IF) (Ctrl-F on this page to find further references to it or just scroll down) — a quick tool to revolutionize how you approach each communication.
Once the first question in the IF has been established and answered by you, the answer produces curiosity in the mind of the reader, so follow the questions that naturally arise from the answer (you can even write them down as headings).
At each stage, you’re answering the question, then slotting arguments supporting why the answer makes sense.
Those supporting arguments must be of the same kind, so don’t mix time order with structure order or degree order in one place. (I mean, duh, but you’ll be surprised how confused your argumentation can be sometimes.)
Induction (“lists of things”) works better than deduction (“if this — then that”) in writing.
Don’t drag the reader through the whole argument; instead of What > Why > How, do What > How > Why.
Summarize at the end of each chapter, if the chapter is long and complicated.
Whatever poeticism you’d like to inject into your writing, do it in the conclusion, but be subtle and put the significance of your message into context.
Avoid mentioning the Next Steps in the Conclusion, as they may incite new questions which you are not planning to answer.
What is the Introductory Flow?
The way I understand it, to introduce the Subject, the Situation around the Subject, the Complication arising from that Situation, and the Question that arises from the Complication, you will always use the Introductory Flow.
Example:
SUBJECT: Optimizing the Conversion Rate on an Online Aggregator.
SITUATION: The Conversion rate is 1%.
COMPLICATION: It needs to be 2%.
QUESTION: How might we make this happen?
ANSWER:
Use hi-res photos;
Add coupon codes;
Offer free shipping, etc.
Your Answer to the Question kick-starts the message.
(Now go back to the checklist in the beginning and keep going until you’ve stated your message.)
What is the next question in the mind of your reader? Maybe it’s…
Coupon Codes? But this is discounting and we’re a luxury aggregator! Why should we do this?
Your argument at this point might be vague — often happens!
You thought you had the thinking all sorted on this issue, but asked for concrete reasons and you realize you’d been going off some flimsy evidence, neighbor’s advice, or just 1 data point.
If it’s not clear to you, it will definitely not be clear to the reader.
If you’re just in love with your ideas and that’s all there is to your analysis, then why should someone else “just love your ideas” and accept them without rhetoric?
Go back and re-think, then re-write. Sorry!
But this way, you’re guaranteed to provide something much more refined in the end; something which will elicit no more follow-up questions and will more likely get an OK, or at least start a fruitful conversation around the issues.
Your goal in any communication is to be understood.
Even if you’re arguing with yourself, you want to be understood by yourself.
“If a person’s writing is unclear, it is most likely because the ordering of the ideas conflicts with the capability of the reader to process. The capability is more or less the same for everyone.” B. Minto
Most of what this principle asks you to do will seem like extra work. Why impose structure on your communication, when you can just write your way through it?
If you were me in 2015–2016, you were writing long-winded emails to your boss, getting lost in arguments (with yourself and others) and losing battle after battle against the tyranny of your own poor thinking, even though your heart was in the right place. You wanted things to move ahead, but didn’t know how to structure your arguments to help yourself.
During that time I had a brief love affair with “everything Silicon Valley” (the place, not the sitcom). Between the Tim Ferriss Show marathons and the totally irrelevant to me (but still occasionally awesome) a16z podcast episodes, I frequently consumed Mark Suster’s Snapstorms.
Mark had a lot to say about good decision-making in general, and one piece of advice was to, basically, read Barbara Minto’s “The Pyramid Principle”.
“The Minto Pyramid Principle is considered the ‘lingua franca’ for serious-minded professionals, especially those who want to be listened to and earnestly wish to advance their careers.”
So I combed through it, and since then went on to use it for an endless number of explorations, decision-making situations, presentations, reviews, requests and how-to materials.
Hope this blog post helps you get interested in the principle and more arcane methods of adding value in your analytical function.
ONE LAST NOTE: Get the library book if you can and take your own notes. Surprisingly, the book itself is a bit convoluted. For my full unedited notes on the book, go here.