The Pyramid Principle: Logic in Writing and Thinking

by Barbara Minto

Genres: Business, Communication, Writing, Nonfiction, Leadership

Hardcover

About the author

Barbara Minto is an American-born former McKinsey consultant who, after becoming Harvard Business School’s first female MBA graduate (1963), created the influential Pyramid Principle—a top-down method for structuring clear business arguments— and has taught it worldwide since founding her own firm in 1973.

Reviews

[Gus Lackner · Rating 5 out of 5]

There is a difference between writing to think and writing to communicate. When one writes to think one implicitly uses previously assimilated mental structures. If you sieze on an idea and trace its furcating roots into the loamy depths of your mind you can uncover the structure you were already using. By making these structures explicit before you start to write you can ensure you didn't miss anything and you can address each of the relevant factors, from the top down, one at a time. Crisp clear compelling writing will easily follow. At least, that's what Minto tells us in Logic in Writing, a wonderful essay on writing that compares favorably with my favorite essay on writing Politics and the English Language by George Orwell.

The second half of the book, an essay entitled Logic in Thinking is not as wonderful. Minto meanders through miscellaneous thoughts on how to pull structures out of poor writing by others, examples of structures she and her colleagues have used, the artistic formats of consulting work, the virtues of specificity and visual language, and the scientific method. Minto does not explain that the absolute bottom level of the pyramid is literally the physical processes controlled by the business, nor that the pyramid exists in the first place because management, and therefore management consulting, operates at a high level of abstraction. Minto does not address cyclic reasoning, though her pyramid principle implicitly rejects it. Logic in Thinking is well known for introducing the mutually exclusive collectively exhaustive method of categorization to consulting, but Minto does not explain why MECE categories are important. These gripes notwithstanding, The Pyramid Principle is a great read that will make you a better writer and consultant.

Extra: Why is MECE important? MECE categorization is important because only MECE categories allow you to reason about each category individually and then make conclusions about the whole. Here's a quote from Foundations of Analysis (1951) where Landau does exactly that: "Theorem 136:
If
xi plus zeta is greater than eta plus zeta, or
xi plus zeta equals eta plus zeta, or
xi plus zeta is less than eta plus zeta,
then,
xi is greater than eta,
or xi equals eta,
or xi is less than eta,
respectively.
Proof:
Follows from Theorem 135, since the three cases are, in both instances, mutually exclusive and exhaust all possiblities." Theorem 135, by the way, showed that an inequality could be mutated by adding zetas to either side of the product of each operation. You showed that by doing it. But in Theorem 136, you were able to show that this also applies to the subtraction of zetas from both sides because the categories 'less than,' 'equal to,' and 'greater than' are a MECE breakup of the numberline* for any given number. In this proof, you have used MECE reasoning an infinite number of times, three MECE categories for each number, to establish the existence of inequalities. Next time you use arithmetic, consider that it is built on a logical machinery that uses MECE.

*Technically these theorems are about cuts, but, if you care about that, consider simply reading Landau.

[David Castillo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very clear and immediately useful. The core ideas of the book are visible since the beginning (1/4 of the way) and the rest builds organically from there. This book is also very interesting in that it was built using the principle and techniques it describes.

I would give it 5 stars if it weren’t for
- a handful of typos and formatting issues sprinkled throughout the book (or at least the paperback edition), even though there’s been 5 print editions and a digital one,
- the examples in chapter 8 seemed overly long and convoluted.

Bottom line, though: if you write documentation, emails, chat messages, RFCs, etc., following the techniques in this book will probably take your writing to the next level. It will also make you hate your coworkers’ writing.

[Blake Storer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Described to me as the consulting bible. It’s boring, reads like a textbook, and layouts fundamental, actionable concepts and frameworks for thinking and communicating efficiently and effectively. That’s a good summary for consulting boring and efficient. A must-read for business thinking, communicating, and problem solving. Must read for business students. Also, it offers cool consulting history as Barabara Minto was the first female consultant at McKinsey and wrote this book 50+ years ago. She pioneered principles that the consulting world built itself on and brought to the rest of the business world like the Pyramid principle, MECE, top down/bottom up thinking, SCQA framework, rule of three, and more.

[Livenou · Rating 4 out of 5]

For a topic as dry as this one, the book is extremely well-written. The pyramid principle can be applied directly in structuring texts but also verbal communication. However it does require some effort to do so. Especially in communication like daily email it could be helpful to structure contents in the proposed way but to me seems impractical. For longer texts and presentations the pyramid principle is definitely useful, if you want/can make the editing effort. An added value of the book was that it helped me to better understand why some communication seems logical and structured vs. other that is confusing.

[Girish Malekar · Rating 5 out of 5]

"The Pyramid Principle" is an absolute must-read for all data professionals. This book has not only drastically improved my writing but also revolutionized how I think, speak, structure, excel, and solve problems. The structured thinking approach presented by Barbara Minto is both intuitive and transformative, enabling clear and compelling communication of complex ideas. It’s a game-changer for anyone looking to enhance their analytical and communication skills. Highly recommended!

[Hisashi Suzuki · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book provides a clear explanation of the Pyramid Principle, an effective framework for business writing. When I first read it seven years ago, I was deeply impressed by its concepts and incorporated them into the purpose statements for my job applications. Since then, I’ve revisited this book several times and plan to read it many more. It offers a foundational structure for business writing, and for non-native English speakers, the examples in this book are especially worth memorizing.

[Carrie White · Rating 3 out of 5]

For being a book about writing, this book is surprisingly painful to read. That said, for anyone who needs a refresher on how to write logically, (or someone who has never learned to write), this book does provide some helpful tips and reminders, especially for consultative writing. It does suffer immensely from outdated examples.

[Juan Pablo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enlightening. I wish I had read this in highschool, but I hated reading so I wish I had read this as early as I possibly could. This book actually offers straight forward, practical examples and tools to improve writing altogether.

[Edzna Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

I just started my first role as product manager and this book helped me a lot to improve my writing and leadership skills. It has saved time and expanded my writing skills.

[Paula Balea · Rating 4 out of 5]

The logic and the details are there, but the style of writing is quite difficult to follow.

[Yaqzaan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked the first half better

[K Saju · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very useful book.

[Adam Weber · Rating 4 out of 5]

Helpful for clear and concise communication. Could be summed up in an article and writing was not the best.

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little stiff but solid logic, perhaps too academic to apply to modern business writing

[Marcelo Becerra · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book can be resumed to 2 or 3 chapters. The examples are outdated.

[lee ✮⋆˙]

First half is great, a bit self explanatory but a necessary reminder sometimes. Second half was hard to get through.