Brief notes on Pyramid principle

Pyramid templates for Solution proposal, Delegating problem solving, Report/Show-off etc.

The introduction (ideally presented as a story) leads to the opening
statement of the thesis and consists of:

1. A factual summary of the current Situation
2. A Complicating factor or uncertainty that the audience should
   care about
3. The explicit or implied Question that this factor or uncertainty
   raises in the audience's mind, and which your thesis answers.

• 1st pyramid row: A main idea/governing thought, answering to the
  question (Targeted to audience; Overarching; Powerful; Supportable)
• 2nd pyramid row: Supporting arguments of the main idea (inductive),
  each of which answers a question (how, why etc.)
• Supporting arguments of each of the layer arguments (deductive),
  each leads logically to the next.

1. restatement of the main point (your answer) and key supporting
   arguments
2. reminder of why it's important and what's at stake
3. concrete action plan (who, what, when)

Checklist

1. Did we use SCQ Framework to undercover issues in concern?
2. Having identified issues, what is our main message (governing
   thought)? Is it TOPS?
3. Should we use an argument or a grouping?
4. Does our final structure pass the relevant logic test?
5. For arguments, does the second point comment on the first point in a
   way that leads to the third point and only the third point?
6. For groupings, are the points logically the same (e.g., all steps,
   all problems, all benefits) and in the logical order?
7. Do both arguments and groupings support their summary in a MECE way?
   Mutually exclusive (ME) check: Is each point used only once and in
   the best place? Collectively exhaustive (CE) check: Do we have all
   the points we need to support or defend the summary idea?

More explanations on argument structure

How to support an idea - Argument structure (Deductive reasoning)

General process: Non-controversial statement about situation >
Comment on situation > Implication of situation and comment
("therefore" point). Each logically leads to the next.

Argument patterns examples:

• Success requires X > You are not equipped to do X > Therefore,
  develop capability for X
• Success requires X > You are not focusing on X > Therefore,
  shift focus to X
• You are pursuing X > Y would be better > Therefore, change
  direction to Y
• You thought X was a problem > Further investigation shows it's
  Y > Therefore, shift focus to Y
• Performance is not as expected > Underlying cause is X >
  Therefore, take steps to fix X

Pros: Demonstrates that no other avenue will work, can be particularly
effective with resistant audiences

Cons: If audience disagrees with "situation" or "comment," argument will
fail to persuade. Requires audience to remember much information before
getting to "so what".

How to support an idea - Grouping structure (Inductive reasoning)

Use same kind of idea: reasons/examples/actions, each answers a
question(how, why etc.)

Pros: Major points easy to remember Very effective for action-oriented
audience If one point rejected, remaining points may still persuade

Cons: Could be too forceful for some audience