Chapter 60 Lao Dan's Pyramid Principle

Lao Dan's Pyramid Principle Feng Tang When I joined McKinsey & Company, the first thing I was trained was the pyramid principle.It was later proved that this was also the most valuable and useful tool in many subsequent trainings. The person who explained the principle of the pyramid was a foreign old lady named Minto, with a kind face, blond hair, gold chain and gold bracelet, and nagging words.She babbled and wrote a whole book. In fact, I can explain it clearly in a hundred words. Minto didn’t learn the pyramid principle that he explained, or was deliberately long-winded. He printed books and sold them to earn royalties. He no longer had to work 80 hours a week at McKinsey, and he was a coolie to accelerate the depreciation of his body.

In a word, the pyramid principle is that everything can be summarized into a central argument, and this central argument can be supported by three to seven arguments, and these first-level arguments can also be an argument itself, supported by three to seven arguments at the second level , extending like a pyramid. These things can be very complicated, such as: what are we, where do we come from, where are we going, the five-year trend of the world economy, and the establishment of China's social security system, etc.These things can also be very simple, such as: why does Xiao Jia blush when he sees a girl, is it dangerous for his mother to drink half a catty of liquor every day, and when the dream lover in high school asked you, should she bring a three-year-old girl with her? daughter divorced, how do you answer and so on.

There is a very high requirement for the supporting arguments of each layer of the pyramid: MECE (Mutually exclusive and collectively exhaustive), that is, they are independent of each other and do not overlap, but they are completely exhaustive when combined together.Only when there is no omission can there be no mistakes, and only when there is no overlap can there be no useless work. The pyramid principle may seem like nonsense, but it is indeed a great principle and a great methodology. One of the great uses, problem solving: When you try to solve a problem, you work from the bottom up, collecting evidence, summarizing the central idea, and building a solid pyramid.Problem solving is most effective with this general purpose in mind.

The second great use is to manage subordinates: If you are a leader, have experience, and have subordinates, for a certain problem, you put forward a hypothesis based on experience, quickly list three to seven supporting arguments at the first level, and hand them over to different subordinates.Two weeks later, your subordinates submit reports, and you collect and arrange them to build a solid pyramid.With this principle, management is the most effective and leadership is the easiest. The third great use is to communicate results: the problem has been solved, the pyramid has been built, and when communication is needed, you report to the leader from top to bottom, from the top of the pyramid.In the past, the emperor gave you three minutes for an early meeting in the palace. Now you meet the leader in the elevator and you are given 30 seconds. You only report the central argument and first-level supporting arguments. The leader understands and the matter is done.If the leader looks at your thatched cottage like Liu Bei, and has big buttocks and heavy meat, he will eat up your refrigerator from breakfast to dinner.If you have time to speak and he is interested, you will report to the eighteenth level of arguments, why three parts of the world, and one can have one if you win Shu.With this principle, communication is most effective.

As a Chinese, we need to be careful that our traditional daily communication is not from the tip of the pyramid to the base of the pyramid, but the opposite.For example, we usually say to Xiao Wang's mother in this way: Xiao Wang eats, drinks, prostitutes, gambles and smokes, cheats, kidnaps and steals, beats the blind and scolds the dumb, digs graves and visits widows, Xiao Wang is a bad guy.We usually don't say to Xiao Wang's mother in this way: Xiao Wang is a bad guy.Then look at Xiao Wang's mother's reaction, and then provide further evidence: Xiao Wang eats, drinks, prostitutes, gambles and smokes, cheats, kidnaps and steals, beats the blind and scolds the dumb, digs graves and visits widows.It is easy to find money in China by purely using the pyramid principle to communicate.

As a Chinese, I can be proud that my country’s culture is extensive and profound, and everything foreigners have stolen from our ancestors, so it is not the Pythagorean Theorem but the Pythagorean Theorem, so the Yin-Yang Yu is the earliest computer , so it is not Minto's pyramid principle but Laodan's pyramid principle: Confucius opened a management consulting company with 3,000 consultants in the Spring and Autumn Period, helping ambitious princes improve their performance by strengthening basic management.Confucius asked Lao Dan how to train the newly recruited consultants. Lao Dan said, tell them, the first principle to master is that Tao produces one, one produces two, two produces three, and three produces innumerable.

2004/11/28