fmgoerres - Barbara Minto's Pyramid Principle

BARBARA MINTO„S PYRAMID PRINCIPLE®
(AND SOME OTHER USEFULL STUFF TO STRUCTURE YOUR WORK)
Tools // Strategy

No one may say I didn„t convey anything new.
The order in which I presented the material was new.
(Blaise Pascal)
17.07.2013 BarbaraMinto„s PyramidPrinciple® 2
For starters – a disclaimerA.

Minto, B. (2008³): The Pyramid Principle. London.A.

name solve show

… Christian B., Stefan G. R. and others from the JCNetwork
And thanks to…A.

There is no predefined structure in „Knowledge Work“.
(Peter Drucker)
Because of what Peter said in „59B.

Imagine: Work in 1794.B.

Imagine: Work in 1794.B.
When„s it done?
How to do it?
What to do?

hu?
B. Remember: Work last week

+ it is not clear what, exactly, should be done
+ it is not clear how it should be done
+ there„s no way of telling when it will be done (well)
In other words: Getting stuff done is hard, because…B.

How many bubbles?
Structuring stuff helps to find solutions …B.

How many bubbles? 27, obviously!
Structuring stuff helps to find solutions …B.
9
9
9

3. Change2. Understanding
Receive, process, value message
1. Message
„9“
… and to convince others of them.B.
1. Knowledge
2. Opinion
3. Mind Set
4. Behavior

SO, HOW DOES IT WORK?

What, exactly, is the
question?
What is the answer
to the question?
How can the
findings be
presented?

 CCQ-Check  Issue Analysis
 DMAIC-Steps
 Story Boad
Slide Writing
Understanding of
the question, list of
actionable tasks
Answers to
question, to sub-
questions
Written paper or
presentation with all
answers
PP is based on three sets of tools – name, solve, show,
remember?
B.
name solve show
17.07.2013 16BarbaraMinto„s PyramidPrinciple®

OK, LET‟S START – “NAME”.

CCQ – Context, Complication, Questions
BarbaraMinto„s PyramidPrinciple® 18
“CCQ” – find the question behind the questionC.
Context: Environment? Paradigm? Situation?
Complication: GIVEN? SET? GAP?
Questions: How to close GAP?
17.07.2013

AN EXAMPLE.

+ A battery manufacturer is reporting a decline in
revenues. Its batteries are best-in-class when it
comes to battery life and
reserve energy.
What do you make of this?
In other words: Getting stuff done is hard, because…B.

CCQ-Example, simplified (!)
„CCQ“ leads to questions which can be used to adress the
case.
C.
C: Business, market paradigm, declining revenue
C: GIVEN: decline, SET: growth
Q: Can we grow revenue? If so, how?
17.07.2013

The Revenue Paradigm
„Environment“, „Paradigm“ and „Situation“ often hint towards
standard approaches which can be used to proceed.
D.
sales price
X

+ „ How can we increase sales?“
+ „How can we raise prices?“
So, in the battery case, there seem to be two CCQ-QuestionsC.

From: switchboard@jcnetwork.com Datum: Dienstag
An: florian.goerres@jcnetwork.com
Subject: Meeting
Hi Flo,
Friederike Bauer hat angerufen und gesagt, dass sie nicht am Meeting um
15.00 Uhr teilnehmen kann. Ich hab dann mal mit den anderen
gesprochen. Sabine Hammermeister hat gemeint, ihr macht„s nichts aus,
wenn ihr euch später oder morgen trefft, aber nicht vor 10.30 Uhr. Robert
Friedrichs Assistentin sagt, er kommt erst morgen spätabends aus Mailand
zurück. Der Konferenzraum ist morgen geblockt, aber am Donnerstag
wäre er frei. Donnerstag 11.00 Uhr sieht gut aus. Wäre das OK für Dich?
VG, JL
But then – it does not have to be a business case…C.

„ Die Zusammenziehungen, Verwechslungen und
Durchblickstäuschungen, die die Höllenfahrt des Einleitungskapitels als für
das mythische Bewusstsein charakteristische Verhaltensweise angesichts
eines ‚stilleren, stummeren, gleicheren Zeitgebreites„ mit langsameren
Entwicklungsgefälle beschreibt – so hält Joseph in Wissen ‚träumerischer
Ungenauigkeit„ Abraham für seinen Urgroßvater, ohne zu bemerken, dass
eine Zeitspanne von wenigstens zwanzig Generationen ihn von Abraham
trennen muss –, lassen ein personales Bewusstsein sich entfalten, das
gleichsam….“
(Kindlers Literaturlexikon)
But then – it does not have to be a business case…C.

26BarbaraMinto„s PyramidPrinciple®17.07.2013

OK, ON TO „SOLVE“

Answering the CCQ question may require taking a heuristic
approach – no problem, just keep things under control.
D.
Get question by CCQ
Break down question
SET, GIVEN
Data, hypotheses
Validate approach
1
2
3
4
5
17.07.2013

A logic-tree can make it easier to break down the questionD.
revenue
sales
customers?
competition?
price
regulation?
….?
…?
17.07.2013

The DMAIC-approach helps to answer questionsD.
MeasureDefine ControlImproveAnalyze
 Define the
Question
 Measure what
you care
about
 Find patterns  Use patterns
to come up
with answers
 Validate your
answers
+ Describe
GIVEN
+ Define SET
+ Find ways to
reach SET
+ Collect data on
GIVEN
+ Interprete data,
find causal
connections
+ Create
hypotheses
+ Back up your
hypotheses
+ Deduct
answers from
your best
hypotheses
+ Recommend
answers
+ Find and
employ
metrics,
means of
measurement
and control
+ Test your
answers
D M A I C
17.07.2013

Open Questions
„How can we increase demand?“
Closed questions
“Should we change the product?“
“Can we lower prices?“
“Is our promotion good enough?“
“Do we sell at the right places?”“
To create hypotheses, change your „open“ CCQ- and sub-
questions to „closed“ questions.
D.
17.07.2013

More revenue?
Should we change
the product?
Can we lower
prices?
Is our promotion
good enough?
Do we sell at the
right places?
Structure your hypotheses in order to get a hierarchical
structure of „actionable“. Then, define actions.
D.
(e.g. cost
analysis
(e.g. POS-
benchmark
(e.g. market
research, value
analysis
(e.g. market
research, focus
groups
17.07.2013

A good set of hypotheses is „GENDER“D.
Similar to „MECE“ – „mutually exclusive, collectively exhaustive“
Got Everything No Doubles Elevated Right
17.07.2013

Remember those actions we defined two slides ago? Now‟s
the time to do them…
D.
(e.g. cost
analysis
(e.g. POS-
benchmark
(e.g. market
research, value
analysis
(e.g. market
research, focus
groups
17.07.2013
value analysis
market
research
POS-
Benchmark
(“e.g. cost
analysis”
(“e.g. POS-
benchmark”
(“e.g. market
research, value
analysis” (“e.g. market
research, focus
groups”

HYPOTHESES, FINDINGS ALL
SET UP? WELL, THEN ON TO
„SHOW“

4 Rules for structuring
1. Every content element
sums up the contents
of the elements below
2. All elements are
mutually exclusive
3. Elements of similar
importance are placed
at the same level
4. Elements of each
level are arranged in
logical order
The top-down structure of your hypotheses forms the
structure of your report. Hypotheses first, findings second.
E.
Main
hypothesis
Hyp. 1 Hyp. 2 Hyp. 3
A
1.1
A
1.2
Details
17.07.2013

Order by
Order your report„s elements by time, structure or ranking.E.
 Breaking down a whole into its parts
 Usually following known structures
„Supply – Manufacturing – Distribution – Sales“
 Chronological order
 Usually in pyramidal structure – from ends to means
„To achieve Z, we need to do two things – Y and X“
time
 Structured e.g. by importance of the adressed issues
 Four questions, five reasons, six variables etc.
„Restructure Operations, Sales, HR“
structure
ranking
17.07.2013

Complete report structure
Adding your CCQ findings completes the report„s structure.E.
Context Complication Question Main hypothesis Call to Action
Hypothesis 1 Hypothesis 2 Hypothesis 3
Argument
1.1
Argument
1.2
Argument
2.1
Argument
2.2
Arg.
3.1
Arg.
3.2
Arg.
3.3
„Key Line“
What, why, ho
w?
What, why,
how?
CCQ
17.07.2013

Structure Story Line, Report Chapters
1. Abstract or „Executive Summary“
+ Main hypothesis
+ Call to action
+ Structure overview, Key findings
2. Outset, main question
+ CCQ
3. Hypothesis 1 – Hypothesis n
+ Findings for each hypothesis
4. Appendix: Backup sites, raw data
Use the basic structure to set up a „Story Line“ –
then write your report.
E.
Action Title
…
…
…
17.07.2013

Now, slidewrite!

Never use a title that says little or nothing.
And do not put everything you are going to say up on a slide.
It is very annoying, since people usually go „Dude!? What is
the point of being here? Just send me your slides, and I will
read them in my own time, without you.“ Remember: You„re
giving a presentation, not a document. So – spare us the
document-look, keep it at a few lines of text per slide.
Mistake No. 1
Worse!
Bad!

60%
40%
"schlecht"
"gut"
Viele der Studierenden schätzen ihre Berufsaussichten
selbst als „schlecht“ ein – fehlende Kenntnisse und
Beziehungen.
Frage: „ Wie schätzen Sie Ihre Aussichten ein, nach dem Studium eine angemessene Beschäftigung zu finden? “
n = 900 Studierende der GW
nach: Multrus, Bargel, Leitow , 2001
Deshalb „schlecht“:
» „Ich lerne zu wenig Fach-
und Methodenwissen.“
» „Mein Studium ist nicht
berufsbezogen.“
» „Mir fehlen Beziehungen zu
möglichen Arbeitgebern.“
„Monitor“ for
visualisation
Data
visualisation
Source
„Action title“
Studenten fehlt Selbstwert-Gefühl
„Take away“

SO, TO SUM UP

CCQ DMAIC PP

ANY QUESTIONS?

Credits
Slide 8, 9: „Weizenfeld IV“, by crocodile, Photocase.com
Slide 10: „Es geht wieder auf…“, by klosko, Photocase.com
Slide 12: „Vorstandsmitglied“, by Bratscher, Photocase.com
Slide 20: „Honda Civic Ad“, by Radomir Kosma Jedrasiak, Raphael Witek.
Slide 34: „Statik“, by simosg, Photocase.com

17.07.2013 48
Contact
Florian M. Görres
Ludwigstraße 25
63067 Offenbach
T. 0049 176 2487 1275
E. kontakt@fmgoerres.de
fmgoerres

This presentation was created by Florian M. Görres. All mistakes made and views expressed within are my own. Feel free to contact me at
fmgoerres@googlemail.com or find me on twitter at @fmgoerres.de.
These charts are published under the „Creative Commons BY NC“ license and is based upon Data taken from www.luenedonk.de and
www.seitwert.de. I want you to share these slides – just follow the guidelines outlined under my Creative Commons License (click on the
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17.07.2013 fmgoerres 49

fmgoerres - Barbara Minto's Pyramid Principle

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