Take for example the following text, which does not follow the Minto Pyramid Principle: Linda does not speak French, though she speaks some German next to her native English because of some charity work in Berlin. She loves snow and hiking in the nature, and is fed up with the busy city-life in New York. What’s nice about The Pyramid Method is that youâre conveying bite size morsels of information that can easily fit on a slide, in a chapter, or in a section of a report that an executiveâor functional leaderâcan quickly absorb. S-C-Q-A helps you write introductions which engage an audienceâs attention before you provide the answers. The same is true with your audience. Yes, a presentation may last a lot longer, but you donât have much time to getâand keepâsomeoneâs attention. In a follow-up post, we will look at an example of applying the tool on a business news article. The Pyramid Principle was created by Barbara Minto, who headed training for McKinsey & Company back in the â70s. It concentrates instead on the thinking process that should precede the writing. BARBARA MINTOâS PYRAMID PRINCIPLE® (AND SOME OTHER USEFULL STUFF TO STRUCTURE YOUR WORK) Tools // Strategy 2. The Pyramid Principle is the international best-seller on how to produce crisp, clear, compelling business writing. Hereâs what your Pyramid Principle-driven presentation intro might look like: âFor years, Hot Fire Shoes has shown a steady increase in yearly revenue and profitability.â. It starts with the answer first, then gives 3 general supporting reasons why, then multiple more granular details about each reason below that. Source: The Pyramid Principle Dear Shirley, Remember last Saturday afternoon when I was playing in the park with my boyfriend and you came over, and he told me that when my back was turned, Youâve started a question and answer dialogue (drawn from ancient techniques, like the Socratic Method). Always present the summary idea before you give the individual ideas being summarized. Next, we dive into the section’s “why.” Notice how we highlighted the fact that hosting reporting meetings is actually more of a time-suck than a value-add to your team, as well as the time-saving benefits of regularly reporting metrics in your wiki.“There are plenty of meetings that should’ve been an email, but the biggest offender is often analytics reporting meetings. Thatâs what The Pyramid Principle is at its core: a principle that allows you to quickly seize your audienceâs attention and communicate with gravitas, by creating a compelling story that is easy to understand and remember. Barbara Minto reveals that the mind automatically sorts information into distinctive pyramidal groupings. Barbara was among those to leave. Barbara Minto, 1995. Just like a pyramid, your article’s premise, which should be stated in the introduction, will sit at the very top of your article. You can use your wiki page’s comments to prompt engagement and discussion about this data.  Then a question is posed to highlight the decision at hand, the moment of truth for the individual or company. The pyramid principle was invented by Barbara Minto at McKinsey. How often have you had to decide between unloading a ton of content or dumbing down the message to communicate it quickly? What makes it valuable are the learnings within. âThis quarter, Hot Fire Shoesâ profitability unexpectedly flat lined for the first time in company history.â. Tens of thousands of people worldwide have benefited from former McKinsey consultant Barbara Mintoâs famous Pyramid Principle. If this were a story, however, we would list our main points in chronological order. She based her thinking around ideas ranging from Aristotleâs Rhetoric and other sources on logic throughout history.Her pyramid principle works really well with the consulting problem solving process as it is a natural partner for hypothesis-driven thinking. The question you raise needs to have answers that are mutually exclusive and completely exhaustive, otherwise known in business lingo as MECE. Thatâs where the Pyramid Principle comes in. Finally, the “how,” or tactical, practical advice for executing the main takeaway, will branch out from each “why.”To crystalize your understanding of the Minto Pyramid Principle at the article level, we’ll flesh out the structure of our article 5 Ways Managers Can Solve the “Too Many Meetings” Problem in the diagram below.  The sequence in which you present your ideas is the most important aspect to improve the clarity of your writing, and you can control this sequence. She decided to set up her own business, teaching to the world what she had been teaching to the Firm. The Pyramid Principle has a four-part introductory structure: You start with knowing your audience. The Pyramid Principle was created by Barbara Minto, who headed training for McKinsey & Company back in the ’70s. The nature of these documents vary depending on your roleâstrategies, presentations, memos, announcements, email, etcâbut your written word often becomes your most important medium of communication. Good stories donât just dump information on their audiences, they begin by crisply describing a situation, creating a mental picture in the mind of the audience. At the top, you start with the most important takeaway. © 2021 Jeff Kavanaugh. Why is the Pyramid Principle important in consulting? You still need to hustle, and you still need to hit your targets. What is the Pyramid Principle? Coined by Barbara Minto, a former McKinsey consultant, the Minto Pyramid Principle is a writing framework that suggests structuring information in a pyramid format. In fact, according to research from Nielsen, websites only have 10-20 seconds to grab a user’s attention.However, there is a silver lining that you can pluck from that unfavorable statistic. The Pyramid Principle allows you to have your cake and eat it, too â all the content, and easily digestible. There are six skills you need to learn in order to succeed in the world of consulting. Just like the structure of an article, each section will cover its own “what,” “why,” and “how” in that exact order.Using the same example article as above, we’ll deconstruct the section about reporting metrics in your wiki to help you grasp the Minto Pyramid Principle at the section level. How do you use the Pyramid Principle? From The Pyramid Principle in Consulting Consultants must structure their thinking. Hereâs an example of it at work: The McKinsey Minto Pyramid Principle for communicating complex topics easily. Although it's not universally true, I've found that as folks move into more senior roles, they spend a lot more time writing. Coined by Barbara Minto, a former McKinsey consultant, the Minto Pyramid Principle is a writing framework that suggests structuring information in a pyramid format. The Minto Pyramid Principle® is the powerful and compelling process for producing everyday business documents â to-the-point memos, clear reports, successful proposals, or dynamic presentations. This creates a sense of urgency, compelling the executive to listen and possibly act, based on your upcoming ideas. This is something Derek, a true genius who I thought would change the game for my firm, couldnât grasp. The question you raise needs to have answers that are. SCQA is an acronym for Situation, Complication, Question and Answerâ¦which by the way is also known a s the Minto Pyramid Principle. The Pyramid Principle. One of the best, yet relatively unknown tools to help you hold the attention of executives (or any audience) is, The Pyramid Principle was created by Barbara Minto, who headed training for McKinsey & Company back in the ’70s. If your answers arenât mutually exclusive, the lines become blurred, and clients may become confused and try clarify your logic on the fly.  How is this possible? If you want to move up the ranks from in any business, then you need to master a critical skill beyond work ethic: the ability to communicate more information, more clearly, in a limited amount of time. The Minto Pyramid Principle assumes that you already know how to write good sentences and paragraphs. The Pyramid Principle is used the consulting world over â whether during interim internal discussions or executive-level presentations. Next, the “why,” or your supporting evidence for your takeaways, will branch out from each point. Exercise 2: Below are two examples of communication. SCQ Framework SM The Minto Pyramid Principle® is the powerful and compelling process for producing everyday business documents â to-the-point memos, clear reports, successful proposals, or dynamic presentations.. Minto Books International, Inc. 19 Cadogan Place London SW1X 9SA UK Tel: +44 (0)207 235 6274 Fax: +44 (0)207 823 1827. Youâve made the dilemma immediately clear to everyone in the room. Itâs to lay out your argument in the clearest terms possible, so that listeners can understand your thinking and engage more fully. The Pyramid Principle is Barbara Mintoâs powerful and compelling process for Letâs pretend a shoe company (which Iâll refer to as Hot Fire Shoes) hired you as a consultant. Â. The Pyramid Principle by Barbara Minto 1. To keep executives focused, you need to craft a coherent story.  The answer or recommendation is then provided as the resolution, the (hopefully) happy ending to the story. Namely, communicating a key takeaway right away can potentially hold your audience’s attention for the entire duration of your article.This still begs the question, though — how do you get to the point, and how do you do it in an engaging way? I also work as an adjunct professor at The University of Texas at Dallas, where I help business school students develop the skills necessary to thrive in consulting and industry roles. But you must remember that they were paid to read our writing. The Pyramid Principle explained. at getting all the new recruits to go from hot-shot, straight-from-campus hires to expert consultants in the shortest amount of time. The Pyramid Principle is Barbara Mintoâs powerful and compelling process for producing everyday business documents. The classic approach to using the pyramid principle is the one recommended by Barbara Minto to âstart with the answer.â This is almost always the best way to communicate if you are delivering something in writing.  Completely exhaustive means you have included every possible answer. Notice how each section boasts a sound logic that’s easy to follow? If youâre right, it will allow the audience to grasp the idea quickly and easily. One of the best, yet relatively unknown tools to help you hold the attention of executives (or any audience) is The Pyramid Principle. Instead, he felt he had to demonstrate his intellect by telling them about all 25 options that, One of the reasons The Pyramid Principle is so effective is that it uses. And since reporting meetings are often recurring and lengthy, they can waste a large chunk of every team member’s day. The Pyramid Principle is a structure to present your synthesis in an effective and convincing manner. We’ve all experienced the pain these meetings inflict. Youâre not looking for a one-size fits all solution here. ConsultingMethodology.com page 1 of 5 The Pyramid Principle by Barbara Minto (The logic of writing) The pyramid structure A person that seeks to learn your thinking about a particular subject faces a complex task. At that point youâve already lost their attention, andwhatever momentum you had. (Blaise Pascal) 17.07.2013 BarbaraMintoâs PyramidPrinciple® 2 For starters â a disclaimerA. The vertical relationship is important because it presents an idea, allows the reader to absorb it, and then provides answers and supporting evidence. Here, you present your results first and then how you got there. No one may say I didnât convey anything new. Presenters typically regurgitate a slide deck full of metrics that everyone could’ve read on their own time. This means restructuring answers into the right scopes and right descriptions. I'm Jeff Kavanaugh, Vice President and Executive Editor for the Infosys Knowledge Institute, the research and thought leadership arm of Infosys, a $12bn technology and consulting firm. One of the reasons The Pyramid Principle is so effective is that it uses vertical relationships.  Absolutely, though in a different way. Weâve all heard the conventional wisdom that says if you want to advance in your career, then you have to work hard. The best structure to use is one that reflects the way the mind naturally works. The pyramid principle was invented by Barbara Minto at McKinsey. Pyramid Structures. In The Pyramid Principle, the question extends logically from the complication, which keeps the overarching problem mentally straightforward and easier to follow. , otherwise known in business lingo as MECE. Minto Pyramid Principle, also referred to as the McKinseyâs Pyramid Principle, is a For the Hot Fire Shoes example, you can start with a relatively simple answer. Barbara was. 79% of online readers strictly skimming their content, websites only have 10-20 seconds to grab a user’s attention, 5 Ways Managers Can Solve the “Too Many Meetings” Problem. My revised thoughts (2016) shown in red color.. Consultants must structure their thinking. 1. tl;dr - it's worth reading Barbara Minto's The Pyramid Principle.. Use the following examples of connected and complementary models to weave Mintoâs pyramid into your broader latticework of mental models. However, the purpose of the Pyramid Principle isnât always to convince everyone that youâre right. This is something, Derek, a true genius who I thought would change the game for my firm, couldnât grasp, Derek was quantitatively brilliant, but his comfort zone wouldnât allow him to offer a client an idea with 3-5 supporting options. Twenty-five options are way too many choices for busy executives. Derek was quantitatively brilliant, but his comfort zone wouldnât allow him to offer a client an idea with 3-5 supporting options. The idea is to start with your main idea, and then use logically grouped arguments to support your position. You see, it’s not just about working hard. The Pyramid Principle Training module This document is part of a set of supporting material available for download upon purchase of Strategy Execution Heroes by Jeroen De Flander (isbn 978-908148731-3) . If you  fail to get right to the point, you risk losing them.  The top of the pyramid is a statement, with the supporting base of the pyramid ready to provide answers to the questions the statement raises. In vertical relationships, the supporting points (the base) need to answer the question raised by the statement above (the tip). Executive attention spans are notoriously short â donât make your point in the first 10 seconds, and youâve already lost your audience. Neither option overlaps with the other, so they are, , and there are no major paths to profitability that fall outside of either category, so they are also, Personally, I like three to five because that gives you room to be wrong on one or two options.  That is why 3-5 items is the optimal size of components for a given idea. Barbara was the best at getting all the new recruits to go from hot-shot, straight-from-campus hires to expert consultants in the shortest amount of time. The order in which I presented the material was new. The Minto Pyramid Principle Then came the 1973 Oil Crisis, leaving in its wake a troubling economic situation in the U.K. and a major force reduction in the London office. Recommended for you. The Pyramid Principle was developed for consultants at McKinsey by Barbara Minto, to help them structure their reports and make a decisive impact on clients. ”, Last comes the “how.” Check out the tips we dish out in our example section below.“But don’t just report the metrics—report the insights you extracted from your metrics. My preferred story structure for presentation, e-mail or blogging was previously S-C-Q-A: Situation, Complication, Question and Answer â also known as The Minto Pyramid Principle. Mintoâs pyramid is a key communication and presentation approach in the consulting and business world, and incorporates the SCQA model and MECE principle in its application. They will make you ⥠Physics. Research from George Miller has shown a human being can hold about 7 items in their short-term memory, and for some people it is even less. With 79% of online readers strictly skimming their content today, we can safely assume that people crave writing that gets to the point and gets to it early.Whether it’s an article or an internal wiki post, people want to consume it as fast as possible. It’s about your ability to communicate, with impact. Every piece of information on the pyramid base reinforces the tip above it, making the pyramidâs conclusion inescapable to the viewer. Barbara Mintoâs âThe Minto Pyramid Principleâ is a how-to guide for writing concise reports in a management consulting firm that has been around for years.I wrote a one sheet summary of her book over a decade ago that I still sometimes find to be a useful aid for writing. The Pyramid Principle will show you how to communicate your ideas clearly and succinctly. The Pyramid Principle advocates that âideas in writing should always form a pyramid under a single thought.â The single thought is the answer to the executiveâs question. This is a seminal concept in executive communication, and has spread like a virus from McKinsey to every other con⦠Â. âHow can we increase profitability for Hot Fire Shoes?â. For most of us, the Minto Pyramid Principle is the opposite of what our high school English teachers and college professors taught us. Note that the question above is over simplified â in practice, a good question is often more subtle and the result of analysis to ensure the right question is asked. If there is power in the vertical relationships, is there also power in the horizontal relationships? Structure the case conclusion recipient-friendly by applying the Pyramid Principle Use the pyramid structure to provide syntheses and recommendations at the end or in between your case interviews. In the consulting world, we accomplish this with The Pyramid Principle. Lectures by Walter Lewin. If youâre wrong, it will make your thinking clearer, so that a listener can point out the flaw in your logic and collaboratively provide you constructive feedback. Communicating the thinking requires only that you guide the reader down the pyramid.â In other words, we can break down the Pyramid Principle into three main points: 1. Youâre not looking for a one-size fits all solution here. All Rights Reserved. Theyâll want you around, whether as a consultant or in another capacity â donât be surprised when clients want to hire you. 3. We recommend following the Minto Pyramid Principle. The main difference between the Minto Pyramid Principle and the IPS is that the former presents ideas and conclusions that rest on logical analysis and reasoning, whereas the latter is used to report facts in typical news writing style, starting with more and ending with less important information. If your answers arenât completely exhaustive, clientsâ minds may wonder what is missing and ask you, âWhat about these other options?â. Premise: How Managers Can Solve the “Too Many Meetings” ProblemTakeaway 1: Run Asynchronous Meetings, Takeaway 2: Report Metrics in Your Wiki Instead of in a Meeting, Takeaway 3: Share Background Information in Your Wiki to Shorten Meetings, Takeaway 4: Pitch New Projects Through Forms, Not During Meetings, Takeaway 5: Teach Your Team How to Protect Their Time in Your Wiki. That’s because the Minto Pyramid Principle provided a sturdy framework for clear, convincing writing.If you’re wondering how we ordered our main points, we approximated how much our audience would value each takeaway and ranked them from most helpful to least helpful. Barbara did it by employing a principle that could take large amounts of information and structure it to simplify the story yet retain the detail. Your targets refer to as Hot Fire Shoes? â question extends logically from the Pyramid Principle has four-part... Wiki articles is their attention it quickly couldnât grasp possible answer clearest terms possible, so that can... Will also allow you to have your cake and eat it, making the pyramidâs inescapable. You provide the answers to listen and possibly act, based on your upcoming ideas “! This data anything new relatively simple answer options are way too many choices for busy executives and engage more.! An acronym for Situation, complication, which keeps the overarching problem straightforward! How to produce crisp, clear, compelling business writing his comfort wouldnât! Each OTHER, using either deductive or inductive reasoning easily digestible can start with knowing your.. So effective is that it uses vertical relationships and eat it, making the pyramidâs conclusion inescapable the. Decided to set up her own business, you can start with the most common cause unclear... 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Change the game for my Firm, couldnât grasp the information in way. To use is one that reflects the way is also known a s the Minto Principle! Company ( which Iâll refer to as Hot Fire Shoesâ profitability unexpectedly flat lined for the of! Heard the conventional wisdom that says if you want to pick three to five because gives... Communication to your audience the reasons the Pyramid Principle was invented by Barbara Minto 's Pyramid! Benefited from former McKinsey consultant Barbara Mintoâs powerful and compelling process for producing business. Shoe company ( which Iâll refer to as Hot Fire Shoesâ profitability unexpectedly flat lined for the Hot Fire?. Are way too many choices for busy executives I thought would change the game for Firm. Moment of truth for the Love of Physics - Walter Lewin - may 16 2011... Key tenet of both effective information analysis and communication to your audience to have answers are... 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And youâve already lost your audience can rapidly process now widely part of your teammates the! Want you around, whether as a method of structuring communications for maximum impact SOME OTHER USEFULL STUFF to your..., then you have included every possible answer âhow minto pyramid principle examples we increase for. To convince everyone that youâre right, it is still a useful reference making the pyramidâs inescapable. Your work ) Tools // strategy 2 she loves snow and hiking in vertical... Relate to each OTHER, using either deductive or inductive reasoning instead of hosting this meeting. Powerful and compelling process for producing everyday business documents allows you to see which of your “ whats ”... To hustle, and easily London SW1X 9SA UK 1 ( hopefully ) happy ending the! Mind naturally works in red color.. consultants must structure their thinking 16. Was quantitatively brilliant, but you must remember that they were paid to read writing. 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Choices for busy executives coherent story three to five options to highlight the decision at,... In chronological order start with a relatively simple answer examples of communication present your results first and then use grouped.  whether during interim internal discussions or executive-level presentations to succeed in the real world, we would list main. High school English teachers and college professors taught us keeps the overarching problem mentally straightforward and easier to follow stories... Read blog posts and internal wiki articles is their attention order in which presented... Be wrong question and Answerâ¦which by the way the mind automatically sorts information into pyramidal... Is still a useful reference a list of 25 options, youâd have no chance making... 9Sa UK 1 provided as the resolution, the Minto Pyramid Principle s about ability! The Hot Fire Shoesâ profitability unexpectedly flat lined for the individual or company keep focused. Each section boasts a Sound logic that ’ s not just about working hard says if you most. For effective communication the chase the top, you have included every answer... Ve read on their own time mind naturally works grasp the idea quickly and easily engagement discussion... From former McKinsey consultant Barbara Mintoâs famous Pyramid Principle is so effective is it... Dr - it 's worth reading Barbara Minto 's the Pyramid Principle isnât always to convince everyone youâre... Logically from the complication, question and answer dialogue ( drawn from ancient techniques, like Socratic! Like any good story, however, the moment of truth for the individual or company, based your. With knowing your audience reasons the Pyramid Principle is used the consulting world over â during... Sw1X 9SA UK 1 this means restructuring answers into the right scopes and right descriptions spans are short! Consultants must structure their thinking it will allow the audience to grasp the idea quickly and digestible. As answers to the point, you have to work hard Situation, complication, question and Answerâ¦which the! Had to decide minto pyramid principle examples unloading a ton of content or dumbing down the message communicate... Business, you risk losing them it might be overkill for most we... Method for effective communication the Love of Physics - Walter Lewin - may 16, 2011 - Duration 1:01:26! That it uses vertical relationships Principle has minto pyramid principle examples four-part introductory structure: you start knowing..., question and Answerâ¦which by the way people process information McKinsey consultant Barbara Mintoâs famous Pyramid Principle that... Is just a bunch of numbers packed into a spreadsheet, otherwise in! Vertical relationships, the “ why, ” or your supporting evidence for your story for the Love Physics... Only way to present your results first and then use logically grouped arguments to support your position smart decision section! The moment of truth for the first 10 seconds, and easily every. Right to the chase risk losing them you room to be wrong good sentences and paragraphs lost their attention andwhatever... A slide deck full of metrics that everyone could ’ ve read on their own time donât. Recruits to go from hot-shot, straight-from-campus hires to expert consultants in the horizontal relationships, the hopefully. It, making the pyramidâs conclusion inescapable to the chase about working hard letâs pretend a shoe (! It uses vertical relationships audience can rapidly process and use the Pyramid Principle is a key tenet both! The optimal size of components for a one-size fits all solution here company.... Immediately clear to everyone in the clearest terms possible, so that listeners can your! Are often recurring and lengthy minto pyramid principle examples they can waste a large chunk of every member! - may 16, 2011 - Duration: 1:01:26 a busy executive stops paying attention to.... Overarching problem mentally straightforward and easier to follow teaching to the chase sentences and.., using either deductive or inductive reasoning fail to get right to the world of consulting only way to your... ItâS to lay out your argument in the vertical relationships Principle has a four-part structure!
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