How to structure your essay with the Minto approach
Use the Situation, Complication, Question, and Answer (SCQA) framework to structure your essay and communicate your analysis more effectively. This approach ensures your writing follows a logical sequence that mirrors how business readers process information and make decisions.
The Situation section functions as your foundation. It’s where you establish the shared reality with your readers before introducing any problems or controversies. Think of it as building a platform that everyone can stand on together, regardless of their opinions about what should happen next.
Start with facts, trends, or circumstances that your audience already knows and accepts. This creates common ground and sets up your story.
Strategies to create a compelling Situation section:
Examples
Take a look at some examples of Situation section adapted from students’ assignments with anonymised company names and figures:
| Situation | Comment | |
|---|---|---|
| Sample 1 | “Pacific Bank announced a 2.1 trillion Rupiah digital transformation investment in 2024, following Indonesia’s banking sector growth of 15.3% annually. This investment represents the largest digital initiative in the bank’s 25-year history that targets mobile banking expansion and AI-powered customer service improvements. The move aligns with Bank Indonesia’s 2030 digital payment roadmap, which aims to achieve 90% financial inclusion across the archipelago.” | This sample works well because it layers context progressively, from industry trends to specific investment to strategic rationale. It connects the company’s actions to broader regulatory goals, showing how the situation fits into a larger narrative. The timeline specificity (25-year history, 2030 roadmap) adds credibility and helps readers understand the significance of the investment. |
| Sample 2 | “Global Tech Solutions has established itself as a leading software provider, with cloud services growing 28% year-over-year in Southeast Asia. The company serves over 2,500 enterprise clients across six countries, specialising in supply chain management and data analytics platforms. As digital transformation accelerates post-pandemic, demand for cloud-based business solutions in the region has surged, with the market projected to reach $40 billion by 2026.” | This sample effectively combines company-specific achievements with broader market dynamics, establishing both the player and the playing field. It provides concrete scale indicators (2,500 clients, six countries) that readers can grasp easily. The forward-looking market projection creates anticipation for growth-related challenges, naturally setting up potential complications around scaling or competition. |
The Complication section functions as your catalyst. You highlight the issue that disrupts the situation and creates urgency, which makes readers feel something needs to be done now. This section transforms your neutral situation into a crisis by showing that the status quo is impossible or dangerous to maintain.
Perhaps the most effective complications combine immediate symptoms with underlying systemic issues that explain why simple fixes won’t work. Your complication should create emotional resonance by connecting to what your audience values most, whether that’s financial threats for business readers or social costs for policy readers.
Examples
Here are some examples of complications based on students’ assignments with company names and data modified for confidentiality:
| Complication | Comment | |
|---|---|---|
| Sample 1 | “Despite massive investments, Pacific Bank’s customer satisfaction scores dropped 12% last quarter due to outdated digital interfaces and slow transaction processing. Internal audits reveal that 45% of mobile banking transactions take over 30 seconds to complete, significantly above the industry standard of 8 seconds. The bank now faces increasing customer churn, with 15,000 accounts closed in the past six months as competitors offer faster, more intuitive digital experiences” | This complication effectively uses the contrast between massive investment and declining performance to create cognitive dissonance. Readers expect investments to improve results, not worsen them. The progression from general dissatisfaction (12% drop) to specific technical failures (30-second transactions vs 8-second standard) to concrete business consequences (15,000 lost accounts) creates escalating urgency. The competitive threat adds external pressure that makes immediate action essential rather than optional. |
| Sample 2 | “Global Tech’s rapid expansion has created operational bottlenecks, with project delivery times increasing 40% and client complaints rising 60% in six months. The company’s decentralised project management approach, effective for smaller operations, now struggles with coordination across 12 offices and 800+ employees. Three major clients have threatened contract cancellation, citing missed deadlines and inconsistent service quality. In turn, it puts $8 million in annual revenue at risk.” | This complication demonstrates how past success can become a future liability, the decentralised approach that enabled growth now threatens sustainability. The parallel metrics (40% longer delivery times, 60% more complaints) show the problem is systematic rather than isolated incidents. The specific revenue threat ($8 million) and timeline pressure (threatened cancellations) transform operational inefficiencies into an existential business crisis that demands immediate strategic intervention. |
The Question section functions as your bridge. You frame the specific challenge that logically follows from your complication and prepares readers to seek a solution. This section transforms reader anxiety into focused curiosity by asking the precise question that everyone is already thinking after reading the problem.
Strategic questions strike the right balance between specificity and scope: focused enough to guide your analysis without constraining the range of possible solutions. They focus on “how” rather than “whether” that assumes action is necessary and ask about the best approach instead of debating if intervention is needed. Your question should also align with your audience’s decision-making authority and concerns (e.g., operational efficiency, strategic positioning, or policy implementation).
Here are four strategies to help you formulate effective questions:
The Answer section serves as your decisive conclusion. You deliver the specific recommendation that solves the problem established in your Situation and Complication sections. This section immediately presents your main solutions, then builds supporting arguments that demonstrate why this approach will work.
In other words, your answer converts the problem narrative into a solution-centric plan by showing exactly what needs to happen and why it will succeed. A strong answer balances boldness with practicality, offering solutions that are comprehensive enough to address root causes while remaining feasible within real-world constraints. You can consider these four techniques when constructing your Answer section:
The Reference List and Appendices
Similar to other academic writing formats, supporting materials in Minto writing include reference lists and appendices that follow the main analysis and recommendations. These sections allow readers to verify your sources and examine the comprehensive evidence behind your recommendations. This arrangement enables readers to dive deeper into supporting details without disrupting the logical flow of your main argument.
Your reference style (e.g., APA, MLA) depends entirely on your marker’s requirements, but business writing using SCQA typically relies more on industry reports, company data, and professional sources rather than purely academic journals. Use references to support factual claims in your Situation, provide evidence for problems in your Complication, and validate solutions in your Answer section.
Appendices serve a strategic purpose by housing detailed data, calculations, or supporting materials that would disrupt your main argument’s flow (e.g., financial projections, survey results, or implementation timelines). Organise them using a systematic appendix structure with clear numbering or lettering (Appendix 1, 2, 3… or A, B, C). Your SCQA sections should reference these appendices mentioned in your analysis. For example, your Situation section might reference “market trends detailed in Appendix A” while your Answer section could point to “implementation costs outlined in Appendix B.” Appendices do not count toward word limits in academic assignments.
Both elements support the Minto approach’s emphasis on credibility and actionable recommendations. Specific instructions for proper reference formatting can be accessed through the Library guide on citing and referencing.