The Pyramid Principle was created by Barbara Minto, who headed training for McKinsey & Company back in the ’70s. 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. In business, you have a few minutes to get your point across before a busy executive stops paying attention to you. By focusing on the key actionable point, or the “bottom line,” and supporting it through the underlying arguments and data, Barbara was able to teach her students to get straight to the point. One of the best, yet relatively unknown tools to help you hold the attention of executives (or any audience) is The Pyramid Principle. The idea is to start with your main idea, and then use logically grouped arguments to support your position.  Sound like any presentations you’ve seen? This is from 4 years ago and covers the Minto’s pyramid principle – one of the most important concepts in executive communication and logical structuring of arguments.This is really big at all the big 4 and big 3.It is the scaffolding of management consulting thinking. She loves snow and hiking in the nature, and is fed up with the busy city-life in New York. “This quarter, Hot Fire Shoes’ profitability unexpectedly flat lined for the first time in company history.”. 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. Twenty-five options are way too many choices for busy executives. My preferred story structure for presentation, e-mail or blogging was previously S-C-Q-A: Situation, Complication, Question and Answer – also known as The Minto Pyramid Principle. 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. Repost. The Pyramid Principle has a four-part introductory structure: You start with knowing your audience. at getting all the new recruits to go from hot-shot, straight-from-campus hires to expert consultants in the shortest amount of time. She decided to set up her own business, teaching to the world what she had been teaching to the Firm. Minto's book also gives us the MECE rule and the publication's contents have become ubiquitous in consulting and are often being repackaged for audiences in other areas. Minto Pyramid Principle, also referred to as the McKinsey’s Pyramid Principle, is a Like any good story, you introduce a complication to highlight the conflict, the problem or opportunity that affects the situation. You want to pick three to five options to highlight as answers to the question you’ve presented to them. You’ve established your familiarity with their company, established a positive atmosphere, and set the stage for your story. The Pyramid Principle by Barbara Minto 1. Next, the “why,” or your supporting evidence for your takeaways, will branch out from each point. Good stories don’t just dump information on their audiences, they begin by crisply describing a situation, creating a mental picture in the mind of the audience. SCQ Framework SM The Minto Pyramid Principle® is the powerful and compelling process for producing everyday business documents – 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. The Pyramid Principle explained.  How is this possible? You see, it’s not just about working hard. 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. There are six skills you need to learn in order to succeed in the world of consulting. They will make you ♥ Physics. Barbara Minto‘s “The Minto Pyramid Principle” 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. 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. In short, you’ve grabbed their attention. The vertical relationship is important because it presents an idea, allows the reader to absorb it, and then provides answers and supporting evidence. 3. The pyramid principle was invented by Barbara Minto at McKinsey. The Minto Pyramid Principle® is the powerful and compelling process for producing everyday business documents – to-the-point memos, clear reports, successful proposals, or dynamic presentations. For the Love of Physics - Walter Lewin - May 16, 2011 - Duration: 1:01:26. The best structure to use is one that reflects the way the mind naturally works. 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. Then, from there, you support your conclusion with layers of evidence that flow in a logical order.Structuring your information like this allows you to instantly convey the takeaway that your readers are looking for and then prove its value throughout the rest of the article. This is the only way to present your ideas clearly to clients. How often have you had to decide between unloading a ton of content or dumbing down the message to communicate it quickly? What Is the Minto Pyramid Principle? Recommended for you. Minto Books International, Inc. 19 Cadogan Place London SW1X 9SA UK It is now widely part of the toolkit every strategy consultants around the world needs to learn and use. It concentrates instead on the thinking process that should precede the writing. 1. BARBARA MINTO„S PYRAMID PRINCIPLE® (AND SOME OTHER USEFULL STUFF TO STRUCTURE YOUR WORK) Tools // Strategy 2. 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. Here, you present your results first and then how you got there. The most common cause of unclear writing is poor structure. Pyramid Structures. As a result, if your content can’t cut to the chase, your readers will likely bounce to the next article that will. 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. Here’s what your Pyramid Principle-driven presentation intro might look like: “For years, Hot Fire Shoes has shown a steady increase in yearly revenue and profitability.”. Just like a pyramid, your article’s premise, which should be stated in the introduction, will sit at the very top of your article. We’ve all heard the conventional wisdom that says if you want to advance in your career, then you have to work hard. If you’re 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. So, in your reporting document, ask your team to discuss which factors impacted their performance the most and how they can act on the data at hand. At that point you’ve already lost their attention, andwhatever momentum you had. The Pyramid Principle advocates that “ideas in writing should always form a pyramid under a single thought.” The single thought is the answer to the executive’s question. Exercise 2: Below are two examples of communication. In this example section, our “what,” or main takeaway, is “report metrics in your wiki instead of in a meeting,” which is also the section header. In the consulting world, we accomplish this with The Pyramid Principle.  Then a question is posed to highlight the decision at hand, the moment of truth for the individual or company. For the Hot Fire Shoes example, you can start with a relatively simple answer. (Blaise Pascal) 17.07.2013 BarbaraMinto„s PyramidPrinciple® 2 For starters – a disclaimerA. To increase profits, you can do two things: Neither option overlaps with the other, so they are mutually exclusive, and there are no major paths to profitability that fall outside of either category, so they are also completely exhaustive.  The answer or recommendation is then provided as the resolution, the (hopefully) happy ending to the story. Topics easily - Duration: 1:01:26 compelling business writing it concentrates instead on the thinking process that precede... 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