Metaphorical Thinking involves understanding a problem by comparing it to something else from a completely different domain. By saying “My company is a garden,” you stop thinking about spreadsheets and start thinking about soil, seeds, and cross-pollination. This shift in perspective reveals hidden dynamics and fresh solutions.
The Lens of Analogy
Your brain is a pattern-matching machine. When you use a metaphor, you “hack” your brain into applying successful patterns from one field (like nature) to another (like business).
Define Your Problem
Clearly state the challenge you want to address.
Example: “How can we make our company culture more innovative?”
Choose a Rich Metaphor
Pick a system or object that has many moving parts.
- Nature: A Forest, a Beehive, a River.
- Technology: A Computer Network, a Rocket Ship.
- Humanity: A Symphony Orchestra, a Sports Team.
Explore the Metaphor
List the key attributes of the metaphor without thinking about your problem yet.
- Soil: The foundation/environment.
- Seeds: The potential ideas.
- Weeding: Removing what doesn’t belong.
- Cross-pollination: Mixing different elements.
Transfer the Insights
Connect the attributes back to your problem. What does “weeding” look like in your company?
- Soil: Invest more in psychological safety so “seeds” can grow.
- Weeding: Remove the bureaucratic processes that stifle new ideas.
- Cross-pollination: Create weekly “idea mixers” between the engineering and marketing teams.
Practice
Problem: “Our customer support is overwhelmed.” Metaphor: “A leaky boat.” What is the “water” in this metaphor? What is the “plug”?