Why We Can’t Resist the Rule of Three

There’s something about threes that just works.

It’s not just marketing slogans like “Just Do It” or “I’m Lovin’ It.” Think about the way people speak, write, even argue: we organize things into beginning, middle, and end. We list three reasons for something. Presentations? Three bullets per slide. Even in comedy, the third line is the punchline.

I’ve worked in IT and Operations roles for most of my life, and I used to think this obsession with the number three was just a habit we picked up in school.. maybe from those dreaded five-paragraph essays. But over time, I’ve come to see it differently. It’s more than structure. There’s something satisfying, about how we process things in triplets.

A little test

When I was coaching a colleague on a high stakes client deck a few years ago, she sent me a draft with seven bullets on a slide. I didn’t say anything right away. I just asked her to read the slide out loud. She barely made it to bullet five before trailing off. “It’s too much,” she said, half laughing. I nodded. Then I told her to try narrowing it down to the three most important points. She did. And suddenly the story had rhythm.

Not because the other four ideas weren’t valid, but because the human brain taps out. Around three, our attention starts shifting from information gathering to judgment. We start evaluating, remembering, forming opinions. Three is the cognitive sweet spot.

Why this matters (even if you don’t care about presentations)

It’s easy to dismiss this as a presentation trick, but I think it points to something deeper about how we absorb meaning. There’s a reason fairy tales say “three wishes” or “three little pigs.” There’s a reason you’ll hear, “I’ll tell you what I heard, what I think it means, and what I plan to do.” That rhythm isn’t random. It gives a sense of completion. Not too hot, not too cold :-).

The more chaotic the world feels... and lets be clear it does feel like its rattling... news cycles, inboxes full of unread emails... the more we gravitate toward patterns that bring a little order. Threes feel like closure without overkill.

And that’s useful outside the boardroom.

I’ve used it in tricky feedback conversations. Instead of dumping everything I’m frustrated about, :-)) It helps me stay focused and makes it easier for the other person to hear what I’m saying without going on the defensive.

The three-fret rule (yes, really)

Even musicians can’t escape this. A while ago, I stumbled across a video by Luke from Become a Bassist, and he was talking about the "three-fret rule." It’s a simple trick for bass players: if your fingers can cover a span of three frets comfortably, you can play almost anything in a given position. It keeps things efficient, playable, and musical.

It’s another example of how our brains (and bodies) favor groupings of three. There’s enough range to create variety, but not so much that we get lost or strained.

But it’s not a magic number

Now here’s where I’ll contradict myself a little. Just because three is effective doesn’t mean it’s always the answer. Sometimes I see decks where every slide is three bullets just for the sake of it, even when one idea would have been enough. Or six crammed into three by shoving commas and semicolons between them. That’s not clarity.. that’s formatting for the sake of formatting.

The point isn’t to force everything into neat little boxes. The point is to give people a structure they can follow, especially when what you’re saying is complex or unfamiliar. Three works.... until it doesn’t.

In real life

I find myself using this even when I’m explaining things to my children. “this is what’s happening, why it matters, and what we’re going to do about it.” It’s not because I planned it that way. It just flows. It keeps me from rambling.. Most of the time, anyway :-)

We like threes not because they’re magical, but because they match the rhythm of how we think, speak, and decide. They offer a beginning, a middle, and a way forward.

Not a rule. Just a rhythm. And like most rhythms, it’s worth knowing when to use and when to break.

#Innovation, #Leadership, #Entrepreneurship, #CareerDevelopment, #FutureOfWork, #Management, #Creativity

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Leadership is seeing the future clearly and choosing to build it with integrity.

Stokkan Bray is Founder & CEO of 6ith, a purpose driven company developing eCOA Solutions. He writes about AI, pharma, and clinical trials. To learn more, connect on LinkedIn and follow the journey... https://www.linkedin.com/in/stokkan-bray/