Chapter 3 Flashcards — How to Build A Pyramid Structure
flashcards tpp pyramid-principle building-pyramid top-down bottom-up scqa key-line caveats
What are the two approaches to building a pyramid, and which should be tried first?
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- Top-down approach — start with Subject, Question, and Answer, then work down through the introduction check and Key Line. This is generally easier and should be tried first.
- Bottom-up approach — list all candidate points, work out their relationships, then draw conclusions to form the top. Used when thinking is not yet developed enough to determine the top.
What are the six steps of the top-down approach to building a pyramid?
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- Draw a box — write down the Subject you are discussing (the topic of the document).
- Decide the Question — what question do you want answered in the reader’s mind about the Subject when you finish?
- Write down the Answer — state the Answer if you know it, or note that you can answer it.
- Identify the Situation — take the Subject and find the first noncontroversial statement you can make about it (what the reader will agree is true).
- Develop the Complication — what happened in that Situation to cause the reader to raise the Question?
- Recheck the Question and Answer — the Complication should immediately raise the Question you wrote in step 2; if not, revise either the Question or the Complication.
What is the purpose of working through the SCQA introduction before writing the body of a document?
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To verify that you have the correct Question — the specific question in the reader’s mind that your document answers. Once you have the right Question, everything else falls into place: the Answer is the point at the top, the New Question raised by the Answer determines the structure of the Key Line, and every idea in the pyramid exists only to answer that original Question. Without this verification step, writers often answer the wrong question or bury the answer under irrelevant detail.
What are the three steps of the bottom-up approach to building a pyramid?
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- List all the points you think you want to make (no organizing yet — just capture everything).
- Work out the relationships between them — look for cause-and-effect chains, groupings, and patterns. A visual flow map is helpful.
- Draw conclusions — from the relationships, determine what the evidence collectively proves or implies. This gives you the top-level point(s) and Key Line structure.
What did the Big Chief memo example (Exhibits 5 and 6) demonstrate about the top-down approach?
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The original memo from the Accounting Department described how a new billing disk system would technically work (record formats, extract programs, balancing procedures), but never answered the actual Question: “Is the proposed change a good idea?” Applying the top-down steps revealed:
- Subject = BC request for change in billing system
- Question = Is it a good idea?
- Answer = Yes
- Key Line (reasons) = (1) Will give us all the information we need, (2) Will increase our cash flow, (3) Will reduce our work load
The restructured pyramid led with the Answer and organized all information as direct support — making it immediately clear and useful.
What did the TTW printing company example (Exhibits 7 and 8) demonstrate about the bottom-up approach?
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A rambling consultant memo contained data on composing costs, productivity comparisons, labor problems, and four loosely connected conclusions. Applying the bottom-up steps:
- Listed 8 problems and 2 solutions
- Mapped cause-and-effect: revealed two separate causal chains — (low wages → no people → behind schedule → high overtime → high costs → uncompetitive) and (same steps → below PAR → low productivity → high costs)
- Concluded: costs are too high; they can be cut by (a) eliminating unnecessary steps and (b) raising wages to competitive levels
The rewritten memo opened with these two Key Line points as explicit section headings, making the entire message clear in the first 30 seconds of reading.
Why should historical chronology be confined to the introduction and not placed in the body of a document?
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The body of a document can contain only ideas — statements that present new thinking and therefore raise a new question in the reader’s mind. Ideas relate to each other only logically. Historical events (simple “what happened” facts) are not the result of logical thought and do not raise logical questions — they are statements of fact. Historical information belongs in the introduction (usually the Situation), where it helps establish the context. Events can appear in the body only when you are spelling out cause-and-effect relationships discovered through analysis.
Why should you always try the top-down approach before starting to write, rather than dictating a first draft?
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The minute you write an idea down, it takes on extraordinary apparent beauty and permanence, making you reluctant to revise it. Writers who dictate the whole document first to “get it all down” inevitably love it once they see it typed — regardless of how disjointed the thinking really is. Structuring the top of the pyramid first forces you to identify the right Question and Answer before committing anything to prose, which is far easier than restructuring after the fact.
What is the danger of jumping directly to the Key Line without thinking through the introduction?
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You will often end up structuring information that properly belongs in the Situation or Complication as a Key Line point. This forces you into a complicated and unwieldy deductive argument on the Key Line rather than a clean inductive one. The introductory information ends up cluttering the body of the document. Sort out what belongs in the introduction first; leave the Key Line free for ideas only.
What rule governs what information the introduction may contain, and what is the consequence of violating it?
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The introduction must contain only what the reader already knows or could be reasonably expected to know (and verify as true). Two violations:
- Including new information in the introduction: distorts the Question — if the reader had known that new fact, they would have asked a different Question.
- Including reader-known information in the pyramid body: implies you left important information out of the introduction, which if known would have led the reader to ask a different Question.
Both errors result in the writer answering the wrong question.
Why is induction generally preferred over deduction at the Key Line level, and what does the warehouse example illustrate?
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Induction is easier to absorb because it requires less mental effort. Deductive chains at the Key Line create overstructured arguments.
The warehouse example contrasts:
- Deductive Key Line (overstructured): (1) We use three criteria to judge warehouse purchases. (2) This building meets those criteria. (3) Therefore, buy. — The third point raises no further question and is redundant.
- Inductive Key Line (preferred): Top point = “Buy the Pacific Avenue warehouse because it meets our criteria.” Key Line = (1) It is on a corner, (2) It is larger than 5000 sq ft, (3) It is under $10 a sq ft.
The inductive version is cleaner, requires no redundant “therefore” step, and is immediately comprehensible.
What makes a good heading in a pyramid-structured document, and what is a bad heading?
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- Good heading: States an idea — a specific claim that communicates meaning even when read alone. Examples: “Eliminating Unnecessary Steps,” “Raising Wages to Competitive Levels.” These have scanning value — a reader who skims the headings understands the document’s argument.
- Bad heading: States a category — a label that tells you what kind of content follows but conveys no message. Examples: “Findings,” “Conclusions,” “Recommendations.” These have no scanning value because they do not communicate what was found, concluded, or recommended.
What should you do when building a pyramid if you can think of Key Line points but have not yet determined the top of the pyramid?
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Proceed anyway using the bottom-up approach:
- List all the Key Line points (and any other points) you can think of.
- Work out the cause-and-effect and logical relationships between them.
- Draw conclusions from the pattern — the conclusions become the top-level point(s).
- Then think through the introduction (Situation, Complication, Question) to validate whether the top-level point actually answers the right Question for the reader.