Ideate Phase
Deliberate
Metaphors
Borrows insight and inspiration from analogous industries, disciplines and people. By applying the wisdom from those worlds to your specific challenge, we are able to look at a familiar situation with fresh eyes and produce novel ideas.
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When would you use Deliberate Metaphors?
Deliberate Metaphors is ideal to use when your team is in search of external inspiration and high novelty. If your team has been struggling to produce new ways of doing something and you’ve already tried the fundamental ideation techniques, Deliberate Metaphors can be an effective tool.
Here’s where Deliberate Metaphors can be a difference maker:
- You are struggling with coming up with a new and non-obvious ideas
- You feel like there’s a solution in another industry or category but you’re not sure where to look
- You are facing an unsolveable problem and you need to think differently
How does Deliberate Metaphors work?
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1
Reframe your underlying challenge/pain point
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2
Ask “where else has this challenge been encountered?”
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3
Select a metaphor that inspires you to think differently about the problem
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4
Describe how the problem was addressed in the “related world”
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5
Apply principles of the solution to your problem
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Get access to instructions, templates, a case study, and more
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Deliberate Innovation Deliberate Metaphors Tool Guide
Top Deliberate Metaphors Tips
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Apply principles of the solution to your problem
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Diverge - Make sure to be generous with the number of worlds you generate. Look to science, nature, other industries, etc.
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Metaphors - Leverage the power of analogies and metaphors to find meaningful related worlds
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Focus on the Principles - Make sure to extract the WHY of the related world before applying
More Deliberate Metaphors Tips & Stories
Storytelling is at the heart of our teaching and is essential for understanding new concepts. Here are some short stories and tips to continue to bring this tool to life.
Additional Ideate Articles & Resources
In Search of Novelty: The Deliberate Use of Metaphors
Now, more than ever, large organizations are trying to keep pace with nimble market disruptors.
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How Leaders Can Grow a Garden of Innovation
Imagine this: the head honcho of your organization just laid down the gauntlet – “I want breakthrough ideas, and I want them yesterday!” Sounds familiar?
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A Lateral Thinking Exercise: Reinventing America’s Pastime
On May 8, 1984, American baseball made the record books. The Milwaukee Brewers faced the Chicago White Sox in a classic duel that would end 7-6....
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