Expanding Thinking with Metaphors

Choose this exercise

Purpose: Reframe a familiar problem by generating and comparing figurative descriptions in small groups.

Use it when: Use when a team is stuck in conventional, analytical ways of describing an issue and needs divergent perspectives before brainstorming solutions.

Skip it when: Skip when the session goal is precise technical diagnosis, legal definition, or immediate final decision making.

Group arrangement: Small groups of 4 to 6 people. For totals that do not divide evenly (such as 7, 11, or 17), form groups of 3 or 7 so every person is placed.

Timing: Source specifies 40 minutes total (5m problem intro and free-write, 5m metaphor drafting, 10m small group, 20m full-group debrief).

Materials and tools

• Whiteboard, flipchart, or shared slide display
• Marker for facilitator display

Before participants arrive

1. Select a single, specific issue or community problem in advance.
2. Write the chosen topic statement clearly on the board or screen.
3. Arrange seating into clusters of 4 to 6 people.

Say this to open

We are going to look at our selected topic through figurative language. Metaphors let us explore an issue from unexpected angles. First, take a few minutes to write your immediate, unedited reactions to this topic on your paper.

How to run it

1. Introduce topic and capture immediate thoughts 5 minutes

   Display the chosen topic on the board. Speak the opening script. Direct participants to write continuously on their scratch paper about whatever comes to mind regarding the topic for 4 minutes without discussing it yet.

2. Draft individual metaphors 5 minutes

   Invite each person to complete the prompt: 'This problem is like [noun/image] because...'. Offer neutral prompts if needed, such as comparing the issue to a vegetable garden, rush hour traffic, or an outdated operating system. Provide an explicit example: 'Our budget process is like rush hour traffic because everyone moves in stops and starts to squeeze into the same narrow lane.' Have participants write down at least one comparison on their paper.

3. Compare and develop metaphors in small groups 10 minutes

   In small groups, have members take turns reading their written metaphors aloud. Groups discuss what each comparison reveals about the underlying problem and may combine ideas to craft a shared metaphor. Ensure each person has airtime or the option to pass.

4. Share highlights and debrief full room 20 minutes

   Call the room back together. Ask each small group to share one chosen metaphor and its rationale. Facilitate a discussion using the debrief questions, hearing from 1 or 2 spokespeople per group.

Debrief questions

• Looking back at your first notes, how did thinking metaphorically highlight details you missed at first?
• Where did a metaphor break down or give an inaccurate picture of the problem?
• How did building metaphors together differ from writing them alone?

Finished output: A set of recorded metaphorical comparisons describing key tensions or dynamics of the focal problem.

Remote

Display the topic prompt on a shared slide. Have participants write notes and metaphors on their own pads. Create breakout rooms of 4 to 6 participants for the 10 minute group discussion. Reassemble in the main room and have a designated reporter paste each group's top metaphor into the shared chat or digital board for debrief.

Hybrid

Keep in-person attendees grouped together in room clusters and remote attendees grouped in digital breakout rooms to avoid audio feedback. Have both room pods and remote pods post their selected metaphors into a shared document or virtual whiteboard before the full-group debrief.

Access and participation choices

• Participants may share comparisons orally, type them in chat, or keep their written notes private and simply comment on someone else's metaphor.
• Anyone may pass on reading their own metaphor by saying 'Pass' during group rounds.

If the session gets stuck

Participants say they are stuck and cannot think of a poetic or clever metaphor.

Remind them that metaphors do not need to be poetic. Give concrete comparison categories like weather, machines, cooking, or gardening.

Groups argue over whether a metaphor is factually correct or technically accurate.

Intervene to explain that metaphors are thinking tools to examine parts of an issue, not literal definitions. Ask what single feature the comparison brings to light.

Terms used here

• Metaphor: A figure of speech describing an object or action in a way that is not literally true, but explains an idea through comparison.