Analogies in a Professional Setting
The opening night session at a conference on information technology (IT) architecture turned a standard conference presentation into one big analogy. Held at a resort in Kitzbühel, Austria, in the shadows of the snow-capped Alps, the conference was meant to instruct CIOs from some of the world's most prestigious corporations. So it initially felt odd that two architects—building architects, not IT architects—kicked things off by talking about their experience transforming slums in Caracas, Venezuela into livable, low-income housing. Why would the management consulting firm McKinsey & Company choose to open the conference with an exposition on a housing project in the steamy streets of a Latin American city? It was a mystery at first, but in time, it all made sense.
McKinsey's Jürgen Laartz invited architects Alfredo Brillembourg and Hubert Klumpner, founders and co-principles of Urban-Think Tank,5 to discuss their design for providing basic infrastructure for some of Caracas's poorest inhabitants. The architects encouraged the development of partially constructed buildings to serve as the foundation for inexpensive housing projects. People then would move in to the building shell and construct a unique personal space to their own specifications. The government provided only the most basic infrastructure, namely the shell, but that was an affordable option and a great alternative to the slums. Not only did this program improve the quality of life and sanitation in areas of Caracas, it afforded new residents the opportunity to take personal responsibility for their living space.
Remember, this discussion took place at the opening session of a conference on computer systems. There was not a single reference to IT architecture during the presentation or in the following discussions. The session simply ended. The conference delegates went to dinner immediately after the session, with no specific instructions to discuss the topic. Laartz knew, however, that the guests would take the opportunity to ponder the meaning of the lecture on architecture and discuss it among themselves. Perhaps the guests realized that the message McKinsey was sending them was clear. The CIOs in attendance were all dealing with “legacy” infrastructure issues at their companies. They were at the conference to discuss with their peers how to meet the demands of today's high-speed, web-centric business environment using the aging but “tried and true” technology that is central to their operations. This highly elaborate analogy—comparing building architecture to information technology architecture but without ever making the comparison explicit—was staged by McKinsey to encourage the CIOs to view legacy planning from a different, more innovative vantage point.
As expected, many at dinner worked through the comparison between the architecture of Venezuelan slums and the architecture of their own systems. Laartz had hoped to push the executives to a higher intellectual level in order to help them prepare to meet the challenges they face in modernizing their systems, and his elaborate analogy seems to have worked. One conference delegate, an information technology director from a Wall Street bank, made a point of telling me about this experience. The analogy proved effective in opening a discussion on legacy systems and providing a memorable experience that delegates could draw on to regain the conceptual momentum of that conference experience.
On the other hand, formal documents, such as strategic plans and budget requests, do not always lend themselves to scintillating analogy. I typically don't use many analogies when working on assignments that call for formality. Many corporations and government agencies expect certain documents to be cut and dried. Executives looking at a budget request, for example, may not be amused by a flowing narrative that compares cloud computing with big fluffy clouds in the sky. Likewise, I doubt that executives on Wall Street or Fleet Street are particularly interested in analogies as a way to describe financial products. Government administrators, business executives, and other decision makers who are pressed for time often don't want to be sidetracked by comparisons or imagery while perusing certain communications. It is possible that an analogy or two might help them see the project from a better perspective, but they may see your insightful comparison as a superficial indulgence instead.
For the executive audience, simple and straightforward should be the default approach. Busy people often like information delivered without much embellishment. It is still true, however, that analogies can be used with everyone, including senior executives. A subtle, light-handed approach can be amazingly effective when a straitlaced approach is expected. Communicating with elite audiences by way of analogies can be tricky, but it is not impossible and, many times, a well-placed analogy will be able to hit your point home in the most efficient way.
Analogies, Metaphors, and Similes Online
The best analogies are likely to be the ones you create on your own. If you know your audience, you are best equipped to think up comparisons that will resonate. If, however, you are having a hard time creating something that works, you might find analogies on the Internet that someone else has dreamt up. Type in the key words of your topic along with “analogy” or “metaphor” and see what's already been imagined. Just remember to give credit to the author or source.
The following pond analogy is just one of many comparisons I have found online to describe how the nation's electric grid works. Remember SOS Intl? Layering isn't the only trick up their sleeve. Pamela Ey and Rocky Sease told me they use analogies like this one to help students who are preparing to work on the electric grid to visualize the science behind electricity.
“The challenge of teaching electricity is that you can't touch it,” notes Sease. “When you are starting out on the grid it is hard to grasp that power has to be generated at the same instant it is being used…within fractions of a second.” Electricity is invisible and odorless. Its intangible nature poses a challenge for grid novices, most of whom had been accustomed to working with more tactile products.
To create an image to show students the instantaneous nature of electricity, Sease frequently uses the following analogy: Imagine that you have a pond that needs to consistently maintain its water level. No matter what happens, that pond must be 100 percent filled, twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. An increase or decrease in the pond level would be unthinkable. The challenge is that people keep taking water out of the pond. Your job, as master of the pond, is to make certain that all the water going out is immediately replaced by water coming in. It may sound like a punishment from Greek mythology, but your fate is to keep that balancing act going in perpetuity.
If that analogy doesn't do it for you, there are many others available online to describe the power grid. Check out the Beer Model, the Rope Loop, the Band Saw, the Rough Sea, and the Crowded Room, just to name a few. The Internet has a wealth of these helpful hints for any topic at hand.