The Minto Pyramid Principle Logic In Writing Thinking

THE MINTO PYRAMID PRINCIPLE LOGIC IN WRITING, THINKING AND PROBLEM SOLVING BARBARA MINTO The I\'Iinto Pyramid Prindple: Logic in Writing, Thinking and Problem Solving Copyri~ht (!'J 2010 hy Borbara !vfinro 1\ll rights reserved. !his hook may not be reproduced or transmitted, in whole or in part, in at!)' form or by any rneans. electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any ir!(ormation storage and retrieval system, witlwut tvritten permission flmn the authm: Published in the United States (U"America by k!into International. Inc. 19 Cadogan Place, Bell 3 London SVVfX 9SA. England (~l Congress Catalo~ Card Number: 95~094799 Lihrar_v fSBN 0-960/910-4-6 Design: h~ra Deutsch "There is nothing so useful as a good theory." KUHT LEWIN PREFACE In 1973 I published a set of six booklets called "The Pyramid Principle" that talked about a new way of tackling the problem of unclear report writing, particularly in consulting reports. It said, in effect, that clear writing was easy to recognize because it had a clear pyramidal structure, ·while unclear writing always deviated from that structure. The ideas within the pyramid relate in a limited number of logical ways (up, down, and sideways), making it possible to define general rules about them. Thus, the key to clear writing is to structure your thinking into a pyramid and check it against the rules before you begin to write. These ideas were developed while I was working for McKinsey & Company, the international n1anagen1ent consulting finn, first in Cleveland and then in London. McKinsey had hired me in 1963 as their first female consultant, selected from the group of eight pioneering women permitted to attend the Harvard Business School that year. McKinsey rapidly concluded that I was hopeless with numbers, but a capable writer. Consequently, they moved me to London to work with Europeans who were faced with the task of writing reports in English. Interestingly, when I began researching material on report writing, I discovered that while there were an enormous number of books on how to write better sentences and paragraphs, there were no books on how to organize the thinking those sentences and paragraphs are meant to convey. Any book that did touch on the subject said things like "Be logical" or "Have a logical outline." How in the world do you tell a logical outline from an illogical one, I wondered, and set myself the task to find out. What I discovered was the pyramid. The pyramid structure is applicable to any document in which your purpose is to present your thinking clearly. To demonstrate, here's a very simple example of a "before" and "after": Points ordered as they occur to the writer: John Collins telephoned to say that he can't make the ri'teeting at 3:00. Hal Johnson says he doesn't mind making it later, or even tomorrow, but not before 10:30, and Don Clifford's secretary says that Clifford won't return from Frankfurt until tomorrow, lClte. The Conference Room is booked tomorrow but free Thursday. Thursday at 11:00 looks to be a good time. Is that OK for you? JC not today HJ- tomorrow alter 10:30 DC- not before Thursday Room not free tomorrow Is Thursday OK with you? Room OK Thursday Points ordered by a pyramid Could we reschedule today's meeting to Thursday at 11:00? This would be more convenient for Collins and Johnson, and would also permit Clifford to be present. It is also the only other time this week that the conference room is free. Reschedule today's meeting to Thursday at 11:00 More convenient lor JC and HJ Permits DC attend to] Few people in 1967 bought this concept, but very good minds were available at