11/14/2022 0 Comments Pyramid principle minto pdf file![]() ![]() She explains that good stories typically follow the pattern of explaining the situation, introducing a complication, and then raising the question that the story will answer. She makes the point that we communicate to tell our audience what they don’t already know, but that the audience only cares if that new information is the answer to a question that matters to them and that is already in their mind. Minto outlines the Situation, Complication, and Question elements when introducing the topic of communication. There are many more concepts and structures within The Pyramid Principle, but I will just share one more. ![]() Minto spends much of the book elaborating further on this concept, with rules for how to structure the pyramid, observations on the vertical and horizontal relationships within the pyramid, and recommendations for how to develop the pyramid in different situations. Finally, we determine what title or subject to give the document to best reflect the contents (top). Then we determine the best way to organize the information (middle). We start by thinking of all the things we want to communicate (bottom). In writing, we do the same bottom-to-top approach. Minto’s first observation is that, while our thinking works from the bottom to the top of the pyramid - from the individual items to the category to the overall summation of things to buy at the store - we communicate best when we work top down. As she continues to rattle off items, he realizes that he can’t possibly remember them all, but if he organizes them into dairy products, fruits, and vegetables, he can possibly keep it all straight. The example she uses is of a wife asking her husband to buy things at the store. Not surprisingly, we end up with a pyramid structure. Miller’s “The Magical Number Seven, Plus or Minus Two”² to explain that, when we start hearing too long of a list of things to remember, we naturally start lumping them into logical categories. Obviously, the pyramid structure is one of the most important. Īlthough represented as a single principle, Minto’s work actually combines several different concepts and structures to improve thinking and communicating. In 1973, she formed her own firm to teach what she calls “The Pyramid Principle,” which she captured in her 1987 book The Pyramid Principle: Logic in Writing and Thinking¹. ![]() Over the years, she recognized that the problem had less to do with clear writing than with the clear thinking needed to produce the writing. ![]() She was recognized for being much more effective at writing for strategy projects than her peers, so she was asked to train other consultants. In 1963, Barbara Minto joined global consulting firm McKinsey as their first female consultant. You may know that the Purpose Pyramid is one of my favorite tools for developing and communicating strategy, so it shouldn’t be a surprise that I’m drawn to Minto’s principle. ![]()
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