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Analogies are a key feature of many approaches to creativity.

You use an analogy when you say that something is like something else (in some respects but not in others). For example: a jumbo jet is like an albatross in that they both fly, they both have wings, they can both travel for a long way without landing, and both can sense where they are going; but they are unlike in that they have different means of propulsion, are made of different materials etc.

Creative Exercise 5 -  Inventions from nature

Biology and zoology are considered by many to be rich sources of analogies from which significant inventions can be derived. One of the most celebrated cases is the invention of the telephone. As Alexander Graham Bell wrote: "It struck me that the bones of the human ear were very massive as compared with the delicate thin membrane that operated them; and the thought occurred to me that if a membrane so delicate could move bones so relatively massive, why should not a thicker and stouter piece of membrane move a piece of steel." Thus was the telephone conceived.

Here is a list of animals and the inventions they exemplify. Try matching the animal with the invention.

Creativity coaching can help you solve your problems in the way that you need.

See below for answers.

Often analogies are used very informally: 'This problem makes me think of X (analogy) - that suggests to me that maybe we could try Y (idea drawn from analogy X)'. But the underlying logic will be along these lines:

1. Identify what it is you want ideas for, and try to find a core verb phrase that captures the essential functional nature of what you are looking for, eg 'how to make X', 'how to prevent Y', 'how to speed up Z', 'how to become better at A'

2. For each verb phrase, generate a list of items (people, situations, objects, processes, actions, places, etc) that is 'like' it in some way, eg analogies to 'making X' (having a baby, making a pudding, the Genesis creation story, a robot car factory ...etc).

3. Pick one of these analogies that seems interesting - preferably where the verb phrase and analogy are from different domains, eg a biological analogy for a mechanical problem.

4. Describe the analogy, including active aspects (such as how it works, what it does, what effects it has, how it is used) as well as passive aspects (size, position, etc).

5. Use this description to suggest ideas relevant to your problem. Does the analogy have features you can use directly? Do the differences suggest other ways of looking at your problem?

Analogies can be:

• Close / direct: a straight functional parallel, eg “selling science is like selling baked beans” or “the human arm is like an angle poise lamp”.
• Fantasy: What is the image that comes into your mind if you were to solve it in your wildest fantasy or within some other cartoon / fantasy world?
• Remote and/or surprising: 'selling widgets' is like steering an elephant'. These analogies are more likely to challenge assumptions and lead to new insights and ideas, but the parallels they suggest are unlikely to have much ‘rational’ status. In the extreme, they merge into the use of random stimuli.
• Personal / component: here you become a component in the system, eg if you are looking at developing a more efficient  washing machine, you could imagine yourself as a shirt.

Answers to matching exercise

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1. bat
2. armadillo  
3. chameleon  
4. knife fish
5. flying squirrel  
6. squid
7. hummingbird  
8. scorpion
9. snake
10. abalone
11. caribou

(  ) parachute

(  ) snowshoes

(  ) anaesthetic

(  ) helicopter

(  ) suction cup

(  ) hypodermic

(  ) radar

(  ) camouflage

(  ) electricity

(  ) tank

(  ) jet propulsion

1. bat
2. armadillo  
3. chameleon  
4. knife fish
5. flying squirrel  
6. squid
7. hummingbird  
8. scorpion
9. snake
10. abalone
11. caribou

( 5) parachute

(11) snowshoes

( 9) anaesthetic

( 7) helicopter

(10) suction cup

( 8) hypodermic

( 1) radar

( 3) camouflage

( 4) electricity

( 2) tank

( 6) jet propulsion