---
id: wiki-2026-0508-pyramid-principle
title: Pyramid Principle
category: 10_Wiki/Topics
status: verified
canonical_id: self
aliases: [Minto Pyramid, SCQA, Top-down Communication]
duplicate_of: none
source_trust_level: A
confidence_score: 0.9
verification_status: applied
tags: [communication, writing, consulting, structure]
raw_sources: []
last_reinforced: 2026-05-10
github_commit: pending
tech_stack:
  language: english-korean
  framework: structured-writing
---

# Pyramid Principle

## 매 한 줄
> **"매 conclusion first, supporting reasons next, evidence last"**. Barbara Minto 의 McKinsey (1967) 의 develop 의 top-down structure 의 consulting/exec communication 의 standard. 매 reader 의 cognitive load 의 minimize — main idea 의 immediately 의 deliver.

## 매 핵심

### 매 Three Rules
1. **Ideas at any level must summarize the ideas grouped below**.
2. **Ideas in each grouping must be the same kind** (MECE — Mutually Exclusive, Collectively Exhaustive).
3. **Ideas in each grouping must be logically ordered** (time / structure / degree).

### 매 SCQA Intro Pattern
- **S**ituation: 매 reader 의 known fact.
- **C**omplication: 매 disrupt 의 event.
- **Q**uestion: 매 implicit question.
- **A**nswer: 매 thesis (= pyramid top).

### 매 응용
1. Exec memo — 매 1-page 의 BLUF (Bottom Line Up Front).
2. Consulting deck — 매 action title slide 의 each.
3. PR description — 매 "what / why / how" 의 top-down.
4. RFC docs — 매 abstract 의 conclusion-first.

## 💻 패턴

### Bad → Good (technical email)
```markdown
<!-- BAD: Bottom-up -->
We profiled the API. CPU was 80%. Then we added caching.
After caching, p99 dropped from 800ms to 120ms.
Therefore we should ship the cache to prod.

<!-- GOOD: Pyramid -->
**Recommend shipping Redis cache to prod (p99 800ms → 120ms).**

- Profiling showed 80% CPU on repeated DB reads.
- Cache hit ratio 92% in staging.
- No correctness regressions in 48h soak test.
```

### SCQA opener template
```markdown
**S**: Our checkout API serves 10k req/s.
**C**: Last week, p99 spiked to 2s during flash sale.
**Q**: How do we prevent recurrence?
**A**: Add request-coalescing cache + circuit breaker. Details below.
```

### Action-title slide structure
```markdown
# [Slide title = the takeaway, not the topic]

# BAD: "Q3 Revenue Analysis"
# GOOD: "Q3 revenue grew 22% driven by enterprise tier"

  - Bullet 1 (evidence)
  - Bullet 2 (evidence)
  - Bullet 3 (evidence)
```

### PR description pyramid
```markdown
## TL;DR
Fix race in `OrderQueue` causing lost messages under high load.

## Why
- Reproduced 1/1000 message loss in load test.
- Root cause: missing mutex in `enqueue()`.

## How
- Added `sync.Mutex` (commit a1b2c3).
- New stress test (commit d4e5f6).

## Risk
Low — change is local; backward compatible.
```

### MECE grouping check
```python
# Pseudo: ensure subpoints partition the parent claim
parent = "User churn increased"
children = [
    "Onboarding friction",  # acquisition phase
    "Feature gaps",          # activation phase
    "Pricing",               # retention phase
]
# MECE: each is distinct phase, together cover funnel.
```

## 매 결정 기준
| 상황 | Use pyramid? |
|---|---|
| Exec / time-poor reader | Yes — BLUF |
| Persuasive memo | Yes — SCQA |
| Narrative storytelling | No — suspense matters |
| Tutorial / step-by-step | No — sequence matters |
| Research paper abstract | Yes — conclusion-first |

**기본값**: 매 business 의 technical writing 의 pyramid first.

## 🔗 Graph
- 부모: [[Communication]] · [[Writing]]
- 변형: [[BLUF]] · [[SCQA]] · [[MECE]]
- 응용: [[Consulting]] · [[Exec-Memo]] · [[Technical-Writing]]
- Adjacent: [[Mental-Models]] · [[Decision-Making]]

## 🤖 LLM 활용
**언제**: draft 의 restructure top-down, 매 generate exec summary.
**언제 X**: creative narrative — 매 pyramid 의 kill suspense.

## ❌ 안티패턴
- **Buried lede**: 매 conclusion 의 last paragraph — exec 의 never reach.
- **Non-MECE buckets**: 매 overlap 의 reader confuse.
- **Topic title slides**: "Q3 Analysis" 의 X — "Q3 grew 22%" 의 O.
- **Pyramid 의 misuse 의 fiction**: 매 mystery 의 spoil.

## 🧪 검증 / 중복
- Verified (Minto, "The Pyramid Principle", 1987 / McKinsey internal training).
- 신뢰도 A.

## 🕓 Changelog
| 날짜 | 변경 |
|---|---|
| 2026-05-08 | Phase 1 |
| 2026-05-10 | Manual cleanup — Three rules + SCQA + before/after examples |
