And, But, Therefore is a simple, structured way to shape stories at work, especially Executive Summaries.
What is And, But, Therefore storytelling?
And, But, Therefore guides a story’s flow, keeping the audience’s attention as it builds to the So What action.
It works especially if we’re using logic to get to a recommended next step - e.g., “Please resource my project” or “We should buy Company X.” In these types of situations - where we’re updating and recommending - two storylines with the same structure repeat over and over: 1. Good, AND Good, BUT Bad, THEREFORE
- Here’s some GOOD NEWS
- AND here’s some more good news
- BUT there’s a slight cloud on the horizon (bad news)
- THEREFORE, we recommend X to continue to prosper
When things are generally going well, this is the most common story we tell.
Here’s a real LinkedIn example from January 2012, shared by a business line to LinkedIn’s Board of Directors. The precise acronyms and details don’t matter, the clarity of the story does:
2. Bad, AND Bad, BUT Good, THEREFORE
- Here’s some BAD NEWS
- AND here’s some more bad news
- BUT there are encouraging signs over here
- THEREFORE, we recommend X to improve the situation
When things aren’t going as well - perhaps we’re behind plan on $$ or a key metric - this is a common story.
Here’s an old LinkedIn example; again, the details don’t matter, it’s the clear story flows that counts.
And, But, Therefore aligns with how Pixar and South Park shape their stories
Starting with Pixar, one of their story rules - “Every Day” - outlines how the story begins, adapts, and ends, directly mimicking our And, But, Therefore story flows
Now turning to South Park, their two founders Matt Stone and Trey Park explicitly use And, But, Therefore to drive their storytelling. As a fun aside, they definitely didn’t hear about it from me, and I’m 98% sure I didn’t hear it from them; I guess we each came up with the concept independently! I highly recommend watching the video - it’s only 1:45:
Thanks to John, here’s a South Park-connected example of And, But, Therefore:
When to use And, But, Therefore storytelling?
And, But, Therefore works especially well when we’re trying to share insights that lead to specific recommendations or action. For example:
- Quarterly Business Review (QBR) and Performance Updates
- Things are going great, BUT a few things could be better, THEREFORE we recommend…
- Things aren’t going great, BUT a few things are looking good, THEREFORE we recommend…
- Resource Requests
- The world is changing AND we can win, BUT we need to move fast, THEREFORE we ask for X engineers
- Every company wants to use AI, BUT data integrity is difficult, which is slowing down adoption; THEREFORE fund our AI data integrity startup and everybody will buy and use our products
- Investment Suggestions
- [Instagram in 2016] We’re crushing it, but we’re seeing consumers flocking to Snap’s Stories, THEREFORE we should carbon-copy their feature
- [Adobe in 2022] Collaborative design is sweeping the industry, BUT we can’t keep up with Figma, THEREFORE we need to try to acquire them for $20B
Overall, And, But, Therefore is an excellent way to connect ideas that drive to an action.
How do we use And, But, Therefore storytelling?
James:
This may be the framework I use the most. Partially when I’m creating documents, especially Executive Summaries; and even more so when I’m editing others’ docs. The framework came to me from constantly red-lining Exec Summs from folks on my team: I noticed I was always commenting, “You need to make the ‘But’ clearer” or “Where’s the Therefore ‘So What’?” It’s the lens I now use for reading every doc’s Exec Summ or tl;dr.
John:
I love the simplicity and I was secretly taking notes on your presentation style in our early days working together. The clarity of thought inspires confidence. Any watch-outs?
James:
The two most common mistakes tend to be: 1) Not setting enough context up-front. Before we explain how the world is changing and what we need to do about it, we first anchor our audience in today’s world. This is the “Every Day” language that Pixar uses before something changes and the action kicks in. A helpful framing is that, “intros are meant to remind rather than to inform or drive to action.” We’re telling the reader a story she already knows; she needs to be nodding along BEFORE we change her mind and drive her to action. 2) Overwriting, both literally and figuratively. This is often writing too much, including too many bullets and overly long sentences. And it’s also overdoing the writing, using words like “unprecedented” or “extraordinary” when “big” or “great” work better. My best tip here is to put away your laptop: instead, grab a scrap of paper and write down your And, But, Therefore flow by hand, preferably with a pencil. You can experiment much more quickly with your story and won’t get bogged down in word choice until you’ve locked on the basic flow. And then share your “So What” out loud: we always use much simpler, more conversational language when we speak than we write; after you share your story out loud, take the language you used and put it into your writing, 95% of the time it’s more digestible and better.
John:
Any other final words of wisdom here?
James:
One final thought is that And, But, Therefore is similar to several consulting frameworks, it’s just simpler. Here’s a well-known one: Situation: Where are we now? Complication: What’s changed? Question: What should we do? Action: We need to… The bible on structuring business writing is “The Pyramid Principle: Logical Writing, Thinking and Problem Solving” by Barbara Minto. The concepts are timeless - they’re the foundation of Bain/BCG/McKinsey and more - but it’s a difficult read, rooting its examples in the 1970s and using stilted prose. I wrote an article in my “What’s the So What?” newsletter on the book in 2021 - ideally in much less stilted prose - and have linked to it here.
Want to learn more?
WANT MORE PIXAR?
If you’re inspired by Pixar’s storytelling - who isn’t? - here are the full 22 Pixar Story Rules, based on the book, “The Pixar Touch”:
WANT MORE SOUTH PARK?
Here’s Nathan Baugh, one of my favourite experts on storytelling at work, breaking apart why And, But, Therefore works, including applying it to Harry Potter:
WANT MORE STORYTELLING?
These two aren’t focused on writing at work but are universally helpful guides (and great reads):
WANT MORE JAMES ON WRITING AT WORK? In mid-2022, I was the Instructor for a 30-minute LinkedIn Learning course, “What’s the So What? Writing Clearly for a Business Audience” It covers And, But, Therefore, and a range of other topics, several we’ll probably Blueprint down the road.
[Note: LinkedIn Learning is a paid subscription product, but does offer free trials before you need to pay. Neither of us makes any money from LinkedIn anymore!].
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