The Minto Pyramid or How to Structure Your Texts (Category Management)
I read a lot of documentation, both at work and in my free time. And I get frustrated with situations where to understand the essence of the question requires overcoming pages of text, rather than following the thoughts of the author. This is especially true when the issue is important and time is limited. At this point, you want the document to be structured in a format: first the main idea, then the evidence. This principle has been popularized since the 1970s. Barbara MintoA consultant from McKinsey. I really like this approach, so I decided to talk about it today.
The use of this principle is as follows: (context) main statement (reply) argument (confirmatory). And then we will analyze each part of this pattern.
1The introductory part of Minto should set the scene and the problem For this, a pattern can be used. SCQA (Situation–Complication–Question–Answer): describe the situation and context, indicate the main problem or complexity, the logical question arising from it - and smoothly lead the reader to your answer, that is, to the main thesis. For example: “Company X has delayed releases (situation). The reason is chaos in demands (problem)The question is, how do you clean up? Solution: Introduce a clear process for specification and task management (reply)" After such an introduction, the reader already understands what will be discussed, and is ready to accept your main thesis.
2The main idea (proposition) It's the top of the pyramid. That's the message you want to convey. Minto advises to formulate it immediately after the introduction, so that the reader does not guess where you are pointing. In business correspondence, such a direct approach saves a lot of time: the addressee immediately sees what is going on, and does not spend extra mental energy searching for meaning between the lines. The bottom line is that the reader has a limited supply of mental energy: part is spent reading words, another part is spent on linking ideas with each other, and only what remains goes to understanding the essence. Therefore, the clearer and more logical the presentation, the greater the chances that the meaning will reach the recipient. The Minto Pyramid just frees the reader’s brain from having to structure the porridge of facts yourself – you do it for him in advance.
3Arguments and details - the base of the pyramid Here are the facts, data, explanations that support the main thesis. It is important that they do not fall out of the list, but are grouped logically. Barbara Minto formulates three rules for pyramid structure - Generalization from the bottom upIdeas at each level should summarize the materials of the level below. The top of the pyramid is the quintessence of ideas from below, each sub-item is a summary of its sub-items, etc. Thanks to this, the reader can read only the upper levels and already get a coherent picture. - Uniformity of ideasIn one group, arguments should be of the same type and order. If you list, say, three causes of a problem, all three must be causes. (Not two causes and one effect mixed up.). Uniformity of ideas can be achieved using approximately the same level of abstraction. MECE (Mutually Exclusive, Collectively Exhaustive) for listings. **- Logical order.**Ideas in each group are ordered according to some reasonable attribute, such as importance, chronology or structure. Illogical consistency is confusing. Minto generally called the chaotic presentation "bad manners" in relation to the reader. A good writer will guide the reader through his arguments step by step.
Following these rules, you build a pyramid from the bottom up when preparing the text. (Collect and group ideas first.)It's from the top down. The result is a slender logical construction, where the reader is first given a map of the route, and then led to the points. If an argument suddenly disappears or is disputed, the general idea will still hold on to the remaining supports.
P.S. Barbara wrote a whole book about this principle, which came out in a distant place. 1987 year. Since then, the book has been republished many times.
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