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ANALOGY THINKING
Let me introduce you to analogy thinking, a simple tool that may help you to identify and apply the best feature from other solutions. It helps you to focus and look at the best practices from your industry and others and copy what works.
To get clear on this, let me say a few words about the term “analogy.” According to the Oxford Dictionary, an analogy is a comparison between one thing and another, typically for the purpose of explanation or clarification. Here are some examples of simile, one of the main types of analogy:
Analogies function to describe or explain one thing by examining its similarities with another thing and to understand the connection between them. Sometimes the things being compared are quite similar, but other times they could be very different. Nevertheless, an analogy explains one thing in terms of another to highlight the ways in which they are alike.
Like many thinking techniques, Analogy Thinking consists of three simple steps:
STEP 1: GENERATE AN ANALOGY
Select an action you can compare your situation to. This can be anything from “planning a meeting” to “making up your room.” It doesn’t really matter, as long as the action doesn’t seem to relate to your subject.
STEP 2: FIND SIMILARITIES
Once you’ve created an analogy, it’s time to write down as many similarities as you can think of. Use your imagination and have some fun with it. You’ll find it much easier than it sounds.
STEP 3: USE SIMILARITIES TO GENERATE IDEAS
Go through the similarities to find interesting insights. What is there that you can use to start generating ideas? Look for new ways to view at your situation.
“Good artists borrow and
great artists steal.”
Unknown
Let’s go through an amazing story about the analogy thinking.
FINDING THE PERFECT FALL DRINK
We all are very familiar with Starbucks, an American coffee company and coffeehouse chain founded in Seattle, Washington in 1971 that now has more than 30,000 locations worldwide.
In 2003, Peter Dukes was a product manager in Starbucks’ espresso division. The idea of seasonal Starbucks drinks wasn’t new at the time. The company had just seen something that hinted at a bright future—the Peppermint Mocha debuted to great success during the 2002-2003 winter holiday season. Could the Peppermint Mocha’s success be replicated? And if so, could it work for different seasons?
Dukes was tasked with capturing Peppermint Mocha levels of success with a new drink for the autumn season. According to Seattle Met’s 2014 deep dive into the Pumpkin Spice Latte (PSL), in the spring of 2003, Dukes and the R&D team brainstormed a list of 20 possible fall latte flavors. Next, they surveyed Starbucks’ customers about which latte ideas most appealed to them. Surprisingly, the idea of “Pumpkin Pie Latte” just didn’t work for most of the respondents and instead they favored chocolateand caramel-based drinks. But when the time came to narrow the list of 20 down to four to find one winner for development approval by the higher ups, Dukes and his team included the pumpkin pie option anyway!
According to company lore, they all gathered and literally ate pumpkin pie while drinking espresso and tried to figure out which elements of the baked good played best with the espresso, and ultimately decided to focus on two main components: Pumpkin and Spice. They mocked up drink after drink, playing with the flavor profiles of these two components. The winner included high levels of both pumpkin and spice, and when it came to name the espresso recipe, they named it “PSL.” Hence, the Starbucks PSL was born by combining two completely different sorts of flavors.
