Analogy Thinking

Purpose

Analogy Thinking breaks cognitive fixation by forcing teams to look outside their own domain for inspiration. By asking how a completely different industry, organism, or system solves an analogous problem, the method generates unexpected solutions that would never emerge from conventional brainstorming.

At a glance

• Group size: 4–12
• Duration: 30 minutes
• Difficulty: Moderate
• Facilitation style: Guided ideation with facilitator-provided prompts
• Setting: Workshop room with whiteboards or sticky notes

How to run

1. State the challenge clearly (3 min): Write the design challenge on the board as a "How might we…" question.
2. Choose analogous domains (5 min): Brainstorm 4–6 industries, systems, or contexts that face a structurally similar challenge. Example: "How does an airport handle wayfinding?" for a hospital navigation problem.
3. Explore the analogy (10 min): In small groups, each team takes one analogy and lists how that domain solves the problem. Focus on principles, not surface features.
4. Transfer insights (7 min): Each group translates their analogy’s principles back into solutions for the original challenge.
5. Share and build (5 min): Groups present their best transferred ideas. The full team votes on the most promising.

Materials needed

• Whiteboard or flip chart
• Sticky notes and markers
• Analogy prompt cards (optional but helpful)
• Timer

Pitfalls & common mistakes

• Surface-level analogies: "Let’s be like Apple" is not an analogy — it’s aspiration. Dig into the specific mechanism.
• Forcing the fit: Not every analogy transfers. It’s okay to discard one that doesn’t work.
• Staying in your industry: The value comes from distance. "How does another tech company do it?" is not distant enough.
• Skipping the transfer step: Interesting analogies that are never translated back are just trivia.

Inclusion & accessibility

• Provide a diverse set of analogy domains so everyone finds one they know something about.
• Allow individual brainstorming time before group discussion for quieter participants.
• Use visual examples (photos, videos) of the analogous domain for participants unfamiliar with it.

Variations

• Nature analogy (Biomimicry): Restrict analogies to biological systems only.
• Historical analogy: Ask how a past civilisation or era solved a similar problem.
• Random forced analogy: Draw a random industry card and force the connection — increases creative stretch.

When NOT to use this

• When the problem is well-understood and the team needs to refine existing solutions, not generate new ones.
• When domain expertise is critical and outside analogies could mislead (e.g., regulatory compliance).
• When the team lacks enough general knowledge to explore diverse domains — provide reference material.

Source & further reading

• Gick & Holyoak — "Analogical Problem Solving" (Cognitive Psychology, 1980)
• d.school, Stanford — Analogous empathy exercises
• Dyer, Gregersen & Christensen — *The Innovator’s DNA* (Harvard Business Review Press, 2011)