| name | minto-pyramid-01 |
| description | Structure or rewrite memos, reports, PRDs, proposals, analytical writeups, explanations, and presentation content using Barbara Minto's pyramid principle. Use when Codex needs to turn loose notes or a flat draft into a top-down argument with a governing thought, Situation-Complication-Question-Answer introduction, Key Line, deductive or inductive support, point-driven headings, problem-definition framing, or storyboarded slides. |
Minto Pyramid 01
Overview
Use this skill to fix structure before polishing prose.
Apply it when the task requires:
- one governing thought instead of topic sprawl
- a clear reader question and answer
- grouped support points with valid logic
- point-driven headings instead of filing labels
- problem-definition framing before deep analysis
- slide or presentation flow derived from the argument
Workflow
1. Calibrate the task
- Identify the reader, deliverable, and desired decision or action.
- State the one question the document must answer.
- State the answer in one sentence.
If the answer is still fuzzy, switch to a bottom-up pass:
- list the points you believe matter
- group like ideas together
- infer the higher point from each grouping
- keep moving upward until one top point emerges
2. Build the introduction
- Draft the Situation: state the first noncontroversial fact the reader will accept.
- Draft the Complication: state what changed, failed, appeared, or became urgent.
- Draft the Question: make the reader's next question explicit.
- Draft the Answer: state the top point early.
Use this flow even if the final prose will imply part of it.
3. Build the Key Line
- Ask what new question the answer raises.
- Decide whether the support is deductive or inductive.
- If inductive, name the plural noun for the grouping.
- Keep sibling points at the same level of abstraction.
- Order them by deductive, time, structural, or degree logic.
4. Expand one level at a time
- Ask what question each point raises.
- Answer that question one level down.
- Keep each child group directly responsive to the parent.
- Remove topic labels that are not real ideas.
- Rewrite vague action statements as visible end products.
5. Shape the output
- For prose: use point-driven headings, parallel wording, and clear transitions.
- For analysis: define the problem before gathering unlimited data.
- For decision work: prefer explicit yes-or-no issues over fuzzy "key issues."
- For presentations: storyboard from the introduction, Key Line, and one level below.
6. Validate before finalizing
Check these questions:
- Can the whole document be summarized by one top point?
- Does the introduction create the exact question the document answers?
- Does every support group contain the same kind of idea?
- Is every support group in a visible order?
- Can every inductive grouping be named by a plural noun?
- Are action ideas written as end products?
- Do the headings tell the same story as the body?
Reference Loading
- Read pyramid-writing.md for the writing rules, SCQA introductions, deduction vs induction, grouping, ordering, headings, and transitions.
- Read problem-solving-and-presentation.md when the task involves diagnosis, recommendation design, issue analysis, logic trees, or storyboarding slides.
- Read templates.md when you need a working structure for a memo, brief, deck, or final validation pass.
Guardrails
- Do not begin with a background dump if the answer is already known.
- Do not use headings like
Background, Findings, or Recommendations as substitutes for thought.
- Do not mix causes, actions, results, and evidence in one sibling group.
- Do not keep disconnected facts that do not explain or defend a higher point.
- Do not gather all data before defining the problem.
- Do not turn a slide deck into a visual recitation of report text.
