Metaphorical thinking is a problem-solving approach that uses familiar comparisons (metaphors) to help people understand complex challenges, generate creative solutions, and see issues from new perspectives.
Metaphorical Thinking for Problem Solving – At a Glance
- Helps teams simplify complex or abstract problems
- Encourages creative and strategic thinking
- Improves communication and shared understanding
- Supports root-cause analysis and holistic thinking
- Commonly used in leadership, change, and problem-solving training
For more workplace techniques, explore our critical thinking skills guides and resources.
How Metaphorical Thinking Is Used in Problem-Solving
When we use metaphorical thinking, we are essentially taking something familiar and using it to help us understand a problem that might otherwise be difficult to explain.
There is a connection here with analogical reasoning, which involves looking at what two different situations have in common.
In training and facilitation settings, metaphorical thinking is particularly effective because it helps participants engage quickly with complex ideas. This is why many HR teams and facilitators use structured metaphor-based activities within problem-solving workshops.
We might, for example, say that “Building a successful business is like a game of chess”.
Both chess and business involve the need to:
- Think strategically
- Plan future moves
- Anticipate and respond to competitors
In this example, thinking of business like a chess game is a way you might try to communicate to your team the thinking involved in making the business successful.
Another example is if we told our team that the project they are about to embark on would be like “climbing a mountain”.
In this case, your team, I suspect, will expect the project to be tough and challenging (because climbing a mountain is a challenge) and require resilience and hard work. So, in this case, you are using the metaphor to emphasize and communicate the dedication and commitment that will be required for this project.
What Are the Benefits of Metaphorical Thinking in Problem-Solving?
Metaphorical thinking offers several benefits for problem-solving because it helps people reframe challenges, think creatively, and understand complex issues more clearly.
I have mentioned that metaphorical thinking is good for problem-solving, but why, you might ask? Below are the main benefits of using metaphorical thinking in problem-solving.
How Does Metaphorical Thinking Expand Perspectives?
Metaphorical thinking expands perspectives by encouraging people to view a problem through a different lens rather than from a single fixed viewpoint.
If the metaphor is related to something that connects with us emotionally, then our connection to it is likely to be that much stronger.
So, in the chess example, if we play chess (or enjoy board games), by thinking through a problem as though we were playing one of our favorite games, such as chess, we can often more easily find results because we can relate to the challenges and find solutions.
How Does Metaphorical Thinking Simplify Complex Problems?
Metaphorical thinking simplifies complex problems by translating abstract or technical issues into familiar, relatable situations.
Complex workplace problems can be difficult to explain clearly to stakeholders, including employees and managers.
Metaphors help us sometimes communicate these complex things in a way that others can more easily understand and comprehend.
How Does Metaphorical Thinking Encourage Creative Thinking?
Metaphorical thinking encourages creative thinking by helping people form new connections between ideas that would not normally be linked.
The connections we make between the problem and the metaphor help us visualize different links that might not be immediately obvious.
This push toward viewing a problem differently often leads to creative solutions.
How Does Metaphorical Thinking Improve Communication?
Metaphorical thinking improves communication by giving teams a shared reference point that makes ideas easier to explain and discuss.
It can be very difficult to communicate complex issues and problems, especially in business, and metaphors provide a solution for trying to communicate these things in a way that people might more easily understand.
How Does Metaphorical Thinking Create Emotional Buy-In?
Metaphorical thinking creates emotional buy-in by connecting ideas to experiences people already care about or recognize.
When we hear stories that connect with our consciousness, we inevitably buy into things more.
In other words, metaphors are a great way to get others (such as our work team) to understand and relate on an emotional level to the problem we are trying to solve.
The only issue, of course, is making sure that you use a metaphor that creates this emotional buy-in (more on this later).
This ability to get an emotional buy-in from your team is what makes metaphorical thinking for problem-solving a great technique.
How Does Metaphorical Thinking Support Hypothesis Generation?
Metaphorical thinking helps people generate hypotheses by drawing parallels between familiar situations and workplace problems. These ideas can then be tested in real-world situations.
For example, if managing a team is compared to “gardening,” one might hypothesize that just as different plants need different types of care, different team members need to be managed with care.
How Does Metaphorical Thinking Help Explain Abstract Ideas?
Metaphorical thinking helps explain abstract ideas by linking them to concrete experiences people can easily imagine.
Metaphors can be excellent for trying to explain abstract concepts, making them easier to grasp and work with.
If we are dealing with change management, for example, where you are talking to employees about ‘growth’ or ‘change’, we can portray a more tangible meaning to others by comparing the change or growth to, let’s say, a plant or flower.
We can use the metaphor of growing flowers and how we need to nurture the flowers when they are planted, and afterward, we see the flowers grow and develop.
How Does Metaphorical Thinking Support Innovation?
Metaphorical thinking supports innovation by opening up alternative ways of approaching problems and generating new solutions.
By trying to draw on the creative ideas of our team, this type of thinking can result in some very innovative solutions for services and product development.
Returning to a previous point, by getting this emotional tie-in from our team and helping our team relate to what is needed. It always surprises me how many amazing and unique ideas people come up with.
In this sense, metaphorical thinking for problem-solving works very well.
How Does Metaphorical Thinking Help Identify Root Causes?
Metaphorical thinking helps identify root causes by encouraging people to look beyond surface symptoms and consider what may be blocking progress.
Participants involved in problem-solving, when they relate to the metaphor, are more likely to be able to tap into the root cause of a problem because we look at the problem from different perspectives than the norm.
An example I like to tell for this is if we think of a communication breakdown as a “traffic jam”.
When we think of a traffic jam, we might imagine a blockage, and in turn, for communication, we begin to think of what is blocking the right communication from occurring.
How Does Metaphorical Thinking Encourage Holistic Thinking?
Metaphorical thinking encourages holistic thinking by helping people see how different parts of a system interact rather than focusing on isolated issues.
Metaphors often tend to guide us toward thinking about the whole system rather than just individual parts of a problem, and this helps lead us more toward full and comprehensive solutions that address the root of the problem rather than just its symptoms.
For example, comparing a company to a “living organism” might encourage consideration of how different departments (organs) interact and affect the overall health (performance) of the company.
So many problems in companies occur because of a lack of coordinated thinking between departments, and metaphors can help remind us of the bigger picture.
How to Use Metaphorical Thinking in Problem-Solving
So, how can we actually use metaphorical thinking to solve problems at work?
The first thing is to be clear about the problem we are trying to solve. From there, we can think of a suitable metaphor, look at how it relates to the problem, and use it to help us come up with possible solutions.
There are five steps I would suggest following.
1. Identify the Problem
Before using metaphors for problem-solving, we first need to have a clear understanding of what the problem is and what the barriers are, and to have a clear end goal that signifies that the problem has been solved sufficiently.
2. Choose a Metaphor
There is an infinite number of metaphors we can use, as we can literally use any situation in life to compare to the problem we are trying to solve.
Generally speaking, a metaphor connected to natural phenomena (such as to do with water or snow) or related to things that we use on a daily basis (such as cars or keys) can work well.
Personally, though, I recommend first thinking about your audience and what they have in common.
Are you trying to explain a problem to architects, for example? If so, then you might want to use an example of buildings.
Are you providing business skills training to soccer players? If so, you might want to use metaphors related to sports or competing.
3. Break Down the Metaphor
It is always a good idea to explain the metaphor by breaking it down into parts. So if the metaphor is connected to taking a trip, for example, you might want to talk about what you’d do before, during, and after the journey when comparing the metaphor to a business problem.
So what decisions do you need to make before a journey? Documentation. Route. What items to take?
Then, during the journey, what things might you need to solve at the destination, and afterward, what might you need to do after the journey?
So you need to consider how the different elements correspond to your project.
4. Develop Options for Solutions
Having provided the metaphors to communicate an issue, you then need to collate the ideas for possible solutions.
Hopefully, as a result of the metaphors, you will receive some innovative ideas back from your team.
5. Evaluate the Options
With the ideas for solutions then provided through the use of metaphorical thinking, it is then about evaluating the ideas and deciding on the practicality of each and which to use.
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7 Challenges with Using Metaphorical Thinking in Problem-Solving
Although metaphorical thinking can be very useful for problem-solving, there are also some drawbacks worth being aware of.
For example, a metaphor might oversimplify a problem, be misunderstood, or mean different things to different people. There are a few other issues worth considering, as we’ll see below.
1. Risk of Oversimplification of a Problem
Metaphors can simplify complex problems because the metaphor makes the problem more relatable.
The issue, though, is that the metaphor might sidetrack people because it takes people away from the direct problem, toward a story that is not exact.
Likewise, the metaphor risks not including some elements of a problem. For example, talking about a flower growing to explain growth in a company might not reflect that trust is also an essential element in the growth of a successful team.
2. Potential for Misinterpretation
Different employees might interpret the metaphor in different ways, given that metaphors are subjective, and this can lead to the idea being misinterpreted.
Imagine talking about a task being compared, for example, to climbing a mountain.
For one person, this can be interpreted as meaning that it is an exciting challenge that will require resilience and teamwork. For another person, though, the idea might mean stress, difficulty, and a physical challenge that they feel they could never do.
If different employees interpret it differently, this might lead to confusion, miscommunication, and misunderstanding.
3. Overuse of Metaphors
Metaphors can often be overused, and the wrong ones used for a given situation.
This can create more problems rather than solving one, as it can sow the seed of confusion and demotivate people.
4. Cultural and Contextual Limitations
These days, many of us work in international, intercultural workplaces and often in hybrid workplaces where we work alongside colleagues virtually and in person.
For this reason, metaphors are not always culturally relevant, which can result in them not resonating with everyone.
5. Anchoring Bias
We also need to think about anchoring bias, meaning that the metaphor might dominate thinking and prevent the exploration of alternative metaphors or approaches that could be more appropriate or lead to better solutions.
For example, if a problem is first described as “navigating a maze,” the focus may remain on finding a single correct path, rather than considering a broader range of strategies.
6. Might Not Suit Some Complex Systems
Some problems are so complex that trying to oversimplify them just might not be the right approach.
A complex problem might need a number of solutions to solve it, so a different way of communicating the problem might be better.
7. Emotional Bias
Metaphors are intended to be emotive, and this can sometimes lead to biased decision-making and toward overly optimistic or pessimistic views of the problem.
A problem that is framed as a “storm” might, for example, evoke emotions of fear and lead to overly defensive strategies, even if the situation is not as dire as the metaphor suggests.
Examples of Metaphorical Thinking
Let’s now look at some examples of Metaphorical thinking so that you can get an idea of how they might be applied in a work environment.
1. Creative Thinking Is Like Cooking Without a Recipe
Trying to find truly innovative, new, and out-of-the-box ideas to create new products can be like trying to invent a new recipe.
Normally, we would have set ingredients, a plan of the steps in the cooking process, and an idea of what flavors we need to add to finish it off.
But if we cook without a recipe, we have to invent the ingredients and steps, find new ideas, and develop a new dish.
2. Creating a Successful Business and Playing Monopoly
In business, just like in the game of Monopoly, you need to think ahead of the game and plan your strategy. You need to consider what your competitors will do, and you need strategies to outthink them and to win.
3. Teamwork is Like an Established Symphony Orchestra
Everyone in the team plays their own instrument, is a key part of the team, and plays an important role in the smooth running of every performance.
Timing, trust, and teamwork are vital, and everyone must communicate and collaborate as a team.
If you’re planning a workshop, you might also find these 12 problem-solving activities for employees useful for getting participants to think creatively and work through problems together.
