McKinsey's Minto Pyramid Principle Template

Description
Created during her time at McKinsey in the 1960s, Barbara MINTO (HBS Havard Business School MBA Alumni and one of the first female partners at McKinsey 🤓🎓) is the mother of "The Pyramid Principle", that she further structured in a 1985 book called "The Pyramid Principle: Logic in Writing and Thinking", available in it's 2008 edition on Amazon here : https://www.amazon.com/dp/0273710516

The original idea of the framework is said to have emerged from observing that junior consultants working with her struggled to:
- back up their arguments with facts, data, insights, conclusions
- order their arguments in the right way (most important arguments first) to communicate effectively

The pyramid principle is one of the most tought frameworks at consulting firms as it :
- creates focus (in an activity where consultants are drowning in data)
- helps story-stelling or argumentation in a consulting context (hypothesis first)
- facilitates the construction of the slide deck plan
- communicate complex information clearly

The overall structure and logic of the Pyramid principle, helps executives gain time by giving them an opportunity to disagree early and to focus on the key points fast, instead of having to go through all details and get confused along the way.

The 3 levels of the Pyramid are :
1️⃣ The answer : Main Thesis, hypothesis, idea, key point, goal, recommendation (1 answer) -  Level 2 insight (McKinsey Scale)
2️⃣ Arguments : support your answer (3 to 5 max) - Level 1 insight (McKinsey Scale)
3️⃣ Supporting Data: that supoort your arguments. Eg: figures, insights, conclusions (3 to 5 max per argument)

Part 1: Synthesize & Structure (Bottom-Up)
1/ Organise your data into groups using MECE

MECE Principle :
=> ME : Mutually Exclusive -> Each box is distinctly different
=> CE : Collectivelly Exhaustive -> Together they cover the whole subject
2/ Extract an insight / summarize your data
3/ Pull everything together into a central thesis

Part 2: Communicate Top-Down
Level 1: Starting with the answer, thesis, idea, key point, goal, recommentation...
Level 2: Regrouping main points supporting Level 1 in a series of arguments
Level 3: For each argument, back up with data, insights, conclusions...

As Chief of Staff and Managing Director in a number of firms (Wimi, Eloquens, adVentures), I've successfully used this framework to convey ideas to the leadership teams, either orally, via text or PowerPoint Presentations.

Given the pertinence of the Minto Pyramid Principle, I decided to create a universal template any business analyst, consultant or manager can use to convey his/her ideas in an efficient way.

Slide 1: The Global Presentation of the Pyramid Principle
Slide 2: The details for each insight/data/facts that back up the main arguments
Slide 3: The Pyramid Principle, re-shuffled for a complete PowerPoint Presenation of the complete argument
Slide 4: Various different levels of use of the Pyramid Principle according to the situation you are faced with
- Elevator Pitch : when you have only less than 1 minute to lay out your answer
- Executive Summary : when you have to back-up your answer in 2-3 minutes with key arguments (written, oral).
- Complete Argument : when you have plenty of time to run through your whole analysis (ex: 30 minutes presentation, full slide deck etc.)
- Specific Drill-Down : when you have limited time and want to focus on the argument and the supporting data that seems to be the most controversial (or sparking opposition) in the discussion

The file are 4 editable Microsoft PowerPoint Template Slides, with an online or offline 22 step-by-step methodology, with pedagogical illustrations for each step.

Should you have any questions on using this top tier McKinsey MINTO Pyramid Principle Management/Strategy Framework Template slide, you're welcome to reach out to me via Private Message.

Good luck!
- Tim

⭐️ Bundle of 13 McKinsey & Company Models & Frameworks (including this one):
https://www.eloquens.com/tool/9GJKSgnL/strategy/mckinsey-frameworks-best-practices/mckinsey-company-models-and-frameworks-bundle

⭐️ Bundle of 19 Classic Strategy Consulting Frameworks (including this one): https://www.eloquens.com/tool/a7rgt4Bb/strategy/management-consulting-templates-and-frameworks/classic-strategy-frameworks-template-slides-bundle

⭐️ Bundle of 64 Chief of Staff Frameworks (including this one): https://www.eloquens.com/tool/4wBYcqZK/leadership-hr-human-resources-tips-and-methods/chief-of-staff/chief-of-staff-cos-frameworks-templates-bundle

⭐️ Bundle of 20+ MBB (McKinsey, BCG, Bain) Strategy Consulting Frameworks (including this one): https://www.eloquens.com/tool/vqPVi0dJ/strategy/management-consulting-templates-and-frameworks/mbb-mckinsey-bcg-bain-models-and-frameworks-bundle 


More ressources on the MINTO Pyramid Principle :
- 📕 McKinsey Interview with Barbara MINTO : https://www.mckinsey.com/alumni/news-and-events/global-news/alumni-news/barbara-minto-mece-i-invented-it-so-i-get-to-say-how-to-pronounce-it- - 📘 Tools Hero description : https://www.toolshero.com/communication-methods/minto-pyramid-principle/
- 📗 Timm Richter's presentation on the "Product Leadership" blog : http://produktfuehrung.de/framework-no-13-the-pyramid-principle/
- 🎥  The "Pyramid Principle Explained" by Analyst Academy https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=elMPIxLYtoc&t=117s- (5 minutes)
- 🎥  "Minto Pyramid Principle - The Basics of McKinsey Problem Solving" by StrategyU : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6QGxUmygbC0 (4 minutes), with a great hands-on live exercise.
- 🎥  "Pyramid Principle® Explained" by Management Consulted : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OtPbu2mje2c (6 minutes)
- 🎥  "The Minto Pyramid Principle Explained with Examples" by EPM : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j4Y3TdVVBCA (8 minutes)