Whether you are formulating strategy in a small group or activating strategy throughout your organization, selecting effective metaphors can accelerate sense-making and shared understanding. It’s worth investing your creative energy to choose the most apt metaphor(s), and to know when that metaphor has run its course.
I use the term “metaphor” broadly to include everything from established business frameworks (such as Gartner’s Hype Curve) to ancient mythology (such as Odysseus’s homecoming) to familiar examples from business or modern culture (like Madonna’s capacity for reinventing herself).
Here’s the key – the metaphor has to help team members “connect” with your strategy, think about it in new/creative ways, and build shared understanding among each other. If a given metaphor doesn’t deliver those results, then it’s a leader’s responsibility to identify a better one.
One of my most powerful experiences with a metaphor came back in the day when everyone was developing a “data monetization strategy.” I was part of an in-house strategy team working with a consultant, and he invited us to work with this metaphor from the restaurant industry:
When it comes to data monetization, are you:
- Creating a new dipping sauce for your French fries; or
- Introducing a new side dish instead of French fries; or
- Adding bacon and mushrooms to your cheeseburger; or
- Adding a chicken sandwich or pizza to your burgers; or
- Opening a Chinese restaurant; or…?
This was an extremely helpful metaphor for our team to explore the scale/scope of opportunity and align on a vision for how “data monetization” would fit into the overall business. It was the “right” metaphor at the time.
Of course, like anything else, metaphors have their useful limits, especially as time goes by and the business entertains its next set of challenges. The perfect metaphor for 2025 might not be so powerful in 2026, so I like to think about the “next perfect metaphor” to introduce to the organization.
Do you have a go-to metaphor (or two or three) in your organization?
Strategy, Creativity, and Leadership 