If you have the patience and stamina its worth the effort, but don't expect hours of fun. Good advice, that many modern pithy writers could heed, to make their writing clearer and have more impact.
AMAZON BARBARA MINTO PYRAMID PRINCIPLE DOWNLOAD PDF HOW TO
The reason I still give it 3 stars rather than less, is below the long winded style and outdated examples, is some seriously good advice about how to structure your thinking and your writing. The existence of any 21st century revisions is not evident. I know this book was first published in 1978 - but I have just read the "2009 revised edition". What is noticeable is there is no reference published after 1972, and many are much older. I was less clear about how the others had influenced her book. Reading the references is interesting, as Minto certainly picked some serious influences, including Wittgenstein, Chomsky, Karl Popper and Thomas Kuhn. It does not explain this as a way to write - but the one and only way to write, which I am little doubtful of. Another problem is it is so self certain. You can't help thinking Barbara Minto should hire a modern author to give it a zippy overhaul and create a book about a third the length with more punch. It was obviously written for the era of the typewriter and overhead projector. I exaggerate, but it just feels so old and ponderous. The problem with the book is that reading it in 2018 it reads almost like something from the Victorian era. They may still do so, but fortunately I don't need to know that sort of thing anymore. It is essentially the book that defined the way that many of the strategy firms, like McKinsey, developed presentations and documents. Whilst never exactly a fun read, it then seemed like good advice, well explained. I first came across it over 25 years ago when I was working for the consultancy A.T.
For those who don't know The Pyramid Principle is one of the classic books of the consulting industry.
And now it is the turn of the Pyramid Principle. I can't read them all the time, so I swallow them in batches. I'm having a flurry of reading professional books right now. A clear example of how even the best professional books age badly.