In the workplace, the importance of correct communication is far beyond our imagination.

As we all know, only by clearly expressing opinions and suggestions can we gain the recognition of leaders, peers and customers.

In order to achieve this goal, many professionals spend a lot of time and energy collecting receipts, making charts and revising PPT repeatedly, but only a few people can succeed in the end.

Minimalist thinking tells us that the reason for failure is not the ability to analyze problems, but the ability to solve problems.

This book provides us with a simple method to solve problems-structured thinking process.

Different from the traditional method of "drawing conclusions from data", the "structured thinking process" takes arguments as the core to construct the overall scheme, and puts forward easy-to-understand assumptions in the initial stage to find out the interests of the communication object, so that the other party can draw our conclusions through reasonable guidance.

About the author:

Mike. Ferrillo is an outstanding graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point. He once worked for McKinsey, the world's top consulting company, and later founded his own company, thoughtLEADERS. His clients include Google, Ford Motor Company, Siemens Electric, LinkedIn, Hewlett-Packard, Abbott, Heinz, Govo Finance, Visa Credit Card and many other industry leaders.

As a well-known and respected speaker and trainer in the United States, Mike? Ferrillo and his team helped thousands of leaders from world-renowned companies master clearer, simpler and more efficient working methods.

He is the author of Leadership in a Box, One-page Work Method and Minimalist Thinking.

Now lives in Ohio, USA.

Wonderful book review:

One:

This book can be said to be a complete supplementary version of the golden pagoda principle. What I didn't understand in the Golden Pagoda Principle before is completely explained in this book. It is floor-standing and operable. Just to be clear. In particular, how to make bold assumptions first and then carefully verify this part can be said to be dry goods.

Two:

We are often so busy that we have no time to think about why we are so busy. Even gave up the basic right to eat and sleep. In retrospect, there is no sense of accomplishment or satisfaction. Like a walking dead life, a life without soul and meaning. Only at some time, we will raise our mobile phones and say with a smile that life is not just the present, but also poetry and distance. However, these can be changed. Minimalist thinking is to start from the way of thinking, screen out many useless things that occupy the energy and time of valuable things, and concentrate on solving valuable problems.

The cover of Minimalist Thinking is white, and there are several fish with stick figures. Like writing, concise and visually shocking. As if telling that life is extremely simple. Minimalist thinking will make our work simpler, simpler and more efficient.

The author Mike Figliuolo graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point. This is the most famous military academy in America, which has trained many famous officers. Next, I worked in McKinsey, the world's top consulting company, for many years. McKinsey & Company has helped many enterprises get out of the crisis and become industry leaders. Many people who work in McKinsey are very efficient and capable. Later, he founded his own company, which helped thousands of world-renowned leaders master clearer, simpler and more efficient working methods. It should be the working method mentioned in minimalist thinking.

Zhao Zhou (the founder of the Book Club) commented: "If you don't think clearly, your piecemeal way of influencing people is nothing more than posturing. If the influence is not obvious, your self-satisfied thinking insight is just narcissism. The nine steps in the book "Structured Thinking" are decomposed into your own abilities, which will be manifested as your influence and internalized into your thinking ability. " This evaluation tells you that thinking is the key.

In our work, we will be meticulous. We put too much experience on analysis, and the conclusion will naturally come out. Although we paid a lot and made a perfect ppt, we didn't get satisfactory results at the regular meeting.

Why?

Human thinking doesn't like too much analysis and rationality, but rather a solution to the status quo. In a word, this is a solution. Tell the solution directly, tell the anxiety and pain points hidden in people's hearts directly, and tell them that this is the solution, so that they can be more impressed and transmit information more effectively, which is also the first step to correctly transmit information.

What we in China like to do is to make people realize. The golden mean derived from this is the style of doing things carved in the bones of China people. Due to the fuzziness of language, every minute is very important in business society. No one likes to think for themselves and draw their own conclusions. It is better to tell them directly what the most effective solution is and whether it can solve their pain points today. This is the most direct, simple and effective way for them to realize the solution. For example, "Mi Meng" has done this.

The media people who came into being in this era of Mi Meng are full of all kinds of abuse and praise, and every article has a high number of hits.

Do you want to know why?

Because she pointed out most of the pain points in her heart.

In a workplace era, there are very few people playing emotional cards in many workplaces, and most capable people are ice cubes with a straight face. Occasionally there is a smile, which is all mechanical. This will prompt many people to read her and praise her. In the workplace, few people will use the word "contact".

Minimalist thinking is an interesting book. It directly writes this "touch point" and "pain point", which is why this way of thinking can touch people's hearts, why it has become the most efficient way of thinking, and why McKinsey & Company has been using it. The most perfect, perfect, efficient and aesthetic business copy comes from this.

See how minimalist thinking works. It has nine steps:

Define the problem-put forward core suggestions (put forward core ideas and suggestions)-select the structure (establish a preliminary structural framework)-create stories (list ideas with story thinking)-discuss/polish (meet different people, get feedback, modify suggestions)-select important events (re-examine the framework and find powerful events)-prove or refute assumptions-integrate information (integrate information)

It seems complicated, after all, there are nine steps. Nine steps, forget it after reading it. It never occurred to me that the senior figures of McKinsey company did not consider people's thinking when they did this step. Even if there are more principles and steps, it is hard for the human brain to remember, even if there are more than 3-5.

Fortunately, he distilled the differences of conventional methods into three differences.

1。 Constant repetition and iteration. (Multi-angle communication, notice the neglected problems from the communication objects, so as to find the correct problems step by step, and polish the views repeatedly, which is a strong support for the overall architecture)

2. Express concisely and directly, and quickly grasp the key points. Try to express your views and plans in the simplest way within 30 seconds.

3. Story thinking. Touch the inner focus of others, so use story thinking to guide the communication object's attention to what you want them to see and think of-your core suggestion. Moreover, while designing the contact points, we should constantly adjust the narrative rhythm according to the content of the feedback from the communication objects, and influence them imperceptibly, so that the communication objects can know what effect your core suggestions and proposals can bring in the end. )

Think about what stakeholders care about. Before any meeting, we should build a strong point with our ideas.

What we advocate is a hypothesis-based approach, which focuses on the core recommendations, constructs a coherent explanation, and obtains the support of stakeholders.

The process of "structured thinking" is actually a process similar to scientific research. Scientific research begins with a hypothesis, or "hypothesis". Then continue to do experiments to verify or overthrow this "hypothesis". If it can be proved, it is correct, otherwise it is wrong.

So is structured thinking. Defining the problem is to put forward the core point of view. First of all, we must recognize who the decision makers are and prioritize. Put forward a plan. Next, explain the reasons for the proposal or support the case. Then, including all relevant personnel, IT department, human resources department, finance department, etc. , collect all the opinions of competitors (including objections), constantly verify your core ideas or selected stories, and constantly improve iteratively, and then get the final plan.

The end point of thinking is output. Without output, all thoughts cannot emerge in the real world. Choosing the final communication mode depends on the habits and preferences of the core decision makers. Whether it's a voice message, an email, a memo or a report, choose at will. Through the final survey, the highest probability is to report, and about 65% people will choose this method. After all, most people learn through vision.

McKinsey & Company presents in the most beautiful copywriting situation. So, what factors does a perfect report contain?

First of all, have a good title. The standard of a good title is "core suggestion". At a glance, the most effective.

The executive summary can display the whole scheme on one page, showing the logic of the report. Background introduction-changes in the situation-core recommendations.

The subject of the report. A hypothesis supported by major analysis and facts. Note that the wording needs to be unified to reduce the ambiguity of the language.

Risks and opportunities. Only in this way can you ensure that your plan risks can be controlled.

Plan. List the events marked with 3- 10, and specify the action content and planned time.

Appendix. The backup database that handles the report details does not need to provide information to the communication object.

Finally, review the minimalist thinking. Insight into the essence of the problem, think about the goal of the communication object, and then make direct and clear suggestions.

Three:

Have you ever been interrupted in a conversation?

Are you upset when your mind is full of wonderful articles but you don't have a chance to say them? When you report your work summary, is it embarrassing for the other party to interrupt you impatiently and let you choose important words? When you carefully prepared the plan and PPT, the other party rejected your plan halfway. Are you depressed?

The fundamental reason why the other person listens is that what you said is useless to him. Or you don't understand what you are saying at all, so you don't want to spend any more time and patience listening.

The human brain has two characteristics when processing information: one is that it can't be too much at a time. Too much information will make our brains feel overloaded and conflict; Second, I hate disorder and prefer regular information. Think about it, many people will feel afraid when they see heavy books and complex data, and people are more likely to remember regular data.

If you want to speak more attractive, work more efficiently, and pass more programs, you must make use of these two characteristics. Minimalist thinking: efficient working methods from top consulting companies suggests that people adopt "structured thinking" to solve the above-mentioned problems, with fewer words and better results.

Structured thinking is one of the most widely used thinking tools in consulting companies. Consultants have a high income and can help customers solve problems. Many times, they don't rely on a deeper understanding of the industry and the company, but on the way of thinking to solve problems. American Mike Ferrillo, the author of Minimalist Thinking, was a consultant of McKinsey & Company, providing consulting services for many well-known enterprises such as Google, Ford, Siemens, LinkedIn and Hewlett-Packard. The secret of its success is structured thinking.

When structured thinking encounters a problem, first imagine a conclusion and then prove or overturn it, instead of analyzing it first and then drawing a conclusion. Don't think that structured thinking is just thinking. In fact, it has precise sequential steps, which will save time, simplify sentences and make it easier to understand.

The nine steps of structured thinking are:

1. Clarify the question: clarify what the question is and understand the questioner's goal.

2. Put forward the core proposal: core proposal = hypothetical conclusion+interest contact point. Tell your communication partner clearly what your conclusion is, and avoid practical rhetoric, which will increase misunderstanding. The conclusion should include "contact point", which is the measure or goal that stakeholders are most concerned about.

3. Choose the structure: attract the other party with the hypothetical conclusion, and prove the correctness of the hypothesis with structural logic. Minimalist thinking points out two logical structures: hierarchical structure and column structure. Hierarchical form-draw a conclusion and introduce situational changes and background environment layer by layer, which is suitable for people who lack background knowledge or are contrary to your suggestion.

ground

Column-grouping information, the core of which has several points, lists the corresponding amount of evidence materials.

row

4. Create a story: let the content have a sense of rhythm and logic like a story, and the narrative is concise, ignoring details. You can refer to Annette Simmons' story thinking here, and the effect will be better.

5. Discussion/polishing: No scheme is perfect from the moment it is put forward. Meet different people, get their feedback and modify suggestions. When there is not enough time to communicate with stakeholders in advance, we can create opportunities for the next communication by understanding each other's job responsibilities, asking relevant personnel, and putting forward an open-ended list of questions.

6. Select important events: re-examine the framework to find powerful events and evidence.

7. Prove or deny a hypothesis: Prove or deny an idea through analysis. The previous assumption proved to be a good thing, and it's not a bad thing that the assumption was overturned, because you avoided some traps in decision-making.

8. Integrate information: choose the communication mode suitable for the communication object and embed the information into the appropriate carrier. Which mode of information dissemination should we choose, such as voice, mail, memo, report, conference presentation, etc? You need to make a choice according to the electricity meter needs of stakeholders. There is a specific analysis in the book.

9. Share ideas: always pay attention to the reaction of the communication object and respond, which will make the other party more interested in listening. Put forward the final plan in advance, so that the communication object has time to get to know it a little, which will make the communication deeper and save time. Taking the initiative to ask if the other person has doubts will make you more confident and respect each other.

Structured thinking is widely used because its effect has been tested countless times in practice. Classic "elevator communication" problem-how to impress your boss in a few tens of seconds when you meet him in the elevator? Using structured thinking, put forward a hypothesis+contact problem, and then make a statement, which makes it easier to get opportunities for in-depth communication.

There is a view that without clear thinking and unclear communication, all communication is unclear, in fact, because there is no clear thinking. If you have been troubled by communication difficulties, you can't make a report or make a plan. Structured thinking is worth trying.

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