Analogy

The analogy serves a simple but useful goal — get moving and start generating ideas. The essence of the method is to compare the task or problem with a simple, already known to us process from some completely different sphere, see the parallels and find hints in them to solve their problem.

Instruction

1. Clearly formulate the task. The effort spent on clarifying and fixing what exactly (and most importantly, why) is required to be done will pay off many times over in the course of the work.
2. Draw a table with two columns. Record in the left column several randomly selected processes that are not directly related to the task, for example, making a cake, fishing, making bread, the plot “Puss in Boots”, etc. If you look well, there will be many processes around one stimulus.
3. In the right column, record the processes relevant to the task. For example, if the task is to create a new training course, then the processes are the development or promotion of a course.
4. Find the parallels between the processes in the left and right columns and think about how you can use these comparisons to solve your problem. Along the way, there are questions that need to be transformed into ideas (for example, if the analogy is cake preparation, what is a cream?). Capture all emerging ideas.
5. After a break, select the best ideas and refine them.

Alternatively, in step 2, you can ask a series of questions “If ... then what?” On a variety of topics (for example, If it’s food, then what? If it’s a plane, then what? If it’s a fairy tale, then ?, etc.) and then select the processes from these analogies.

Success depends on the successful selection of analogies and the ability to abstract processes. Work will take 10-20 minutes, in the first times it may take more time.

The method is described in detail by Edward de Bono in the book Lateral Thinking —Lateral Thinking: Step by Step .