Pyramid Principle: Summarizing Grouped Ideas
Always ask yourself of any grouping, “Why have I brought together these particular ideas and no others?” The answer will be:
The all possess a characteristic in common, and are the only ideas linked in this way
- In which case your summary point will be an insight gleaned from having contemplated the significance of the similarity.
They are all of the actions that must be taken together to achieve a desired effect
- In which case the summary point states the direct effect of taking the actions (Minto [1996] 2018, p 118)
For more on actions in particular, see also State The Effect Of Actions.
Other Quotes
Avoid “intellectually blank” summaries like “We recommend 5 changes”:
I call these statements intellectually blank because they do not in fact summarize the essence of the ideas grouped below them, they simply state the kind of idea that will be discussed. (Minto [1996] 2018, p 94)
Regardless of the origin of the idea, its expression will be either as an action statement, telling the reader to do something, or as a situation statement, telling the reader about something.
- Summarize the action ideas by stating the effect of carrying out the actions
- Summarize the situation ideas by stating what their being similar implies. (Minto [1996] 2018, p 97)
Thus, the common property linking a grouping of ideas will usually show up because the sentences all:
- Discuss the same kind of subject
- Express the same kind of predicate (action or object)
- Imply the same kind of judgement (Minto [1996] 2018, p111)