Analogy (Laddering Up)
Using analogies to solve problems by comparing your situation to similar ones in different domains. The 'laddering up' technique moves from local analogies (similar problems in your immediate context) to regional (related domains) to distant (unrelated fields) to find creative solutions.
THE IDEA
What Is the Analogy Heuristic?
An analogy compares a current problem with another problem that has already been solved. By extracting the "crucial features" of your problem and searching for similar situations, you can borrow solutions from others rather than inventing from scratch.
Kevin Dunbar's Research
Psychologist Kevin Dunbar embedded himself in four molecular-biology labs for a year to study how scientists think. He observed that scientists routinely used local analogies (comparing similar experiments with the same organism) and regional analogies (comparing related organisms) to overcome experimental hurdles. One lab that rarely used analogies fell behind its peers, resorting to brute-force trial and error instead.
The Laddering Up Process
When stuck, you can climb a ladder of abstraction:
- Local analogies: Look at very similar situations (e.g., bright spots within your own team).
- Regional analogies: Look at related domains (e.g., other schools, similar industries).
- Distant analogies: Look at completely different fields (e.g., amusement parks, plumbers, sharkskin).
As you move further from the original setting, check which features still match. Re-expressing the problem in abstract terms can reveal candidates worth testing.
Examples
- Principal Jones: Wanting to speed up a school lunch line, he starts by checking his own staff (bright spots), then other schools, then any organization with a checkout process (convenience stores, stadiums), and eventually crowd-flow experts (Disney queues).
- Fiona Fairhurst and the Fastskin swimsuit: Speedo designer Fairhurst laddered up from swimsuit design to "anything that goes fast in water," leading her to study sharkskin (for drag reduction) and torpedoes (for body compression). The source reports that swimmers wearing the resulting suit won 83% of Olympic medals in 2000.
- Pentium naming: The naming firm Lexicon wanted a name suggesting "speed," so they studied slalom race skis. Ultimately, they used an analogy to chemical elements (the "-ium" ending) to convey the processor as a powerful ingredient.
Counteracting Narrow Framing
The analogy heuristic helps you widen your options. The chapter contrasts it with narrow framing—the tendency to see only binary choices (e.g., "stay or leave") when a third option (like changing the situation) often exists. Techniques like the Vanishing Options Test and multitracking also help.
An analogy offers a candidate solution. Check whether the features that made it work in the original setting also apply to your problem.
When to use it
A product designer stuck on a user interface issue can look at how other apps handle similar interactions (local analogy) or how physical devices like car dashboards or kitchen appliances manage controls (distant analogy).
A manager trying to improve team collaboration might study high-performing teams in her own company (bright spots) and then look at how orchestras or military units coordinate (laddering up).
A teacher struggling to engage students can borrow techniques from successful teachers (local) or from entertainers and storytellers (distant).
A scientist faced with unexpected results can search for analogous phenomena in related species or systems (regional) or in completely different fields like economics or physics (distant).
FROM THEORY TO EVERYDAY LIFE
In practice
Kevin Dunbar's Study of Scientists
Dunbar observed molecular biology labs and found that scientists frequently used 'local analogies' (comparing similar experiments) and 'regional analogies' (comparing related organisms) to solve problems. The lab that did not use analogies lagged behind in solving problems.
The Fastskin Swimsuit
Speedo designer Fiona Fairhurst used analogies to sharkskin (rough texture reduces drag) and torpedoes (compressing the body into a streamlined shape) to develop a swimsuit. The source reports that its wearers won 83% of Olympic medals in 2000; that share alone does not isolate the suit’s effect.
Principal Jones and the Lunch Line
A principal wanting to speed up the lunch line uses laddering up: start by looking for bright spots among his own staff, then benchmark other schools, then expand to any organization with checkout processes (convenience stores, stadiums, etc.).
A MOMENT TO REFLECT
Put it to work.
Think of a current problem you are facing. Can you identify a local analogy—a similar problem you or someone in your organization has solved before?
Now try laddering up: What would be a 'regional' analogy? What about a 'distant' analogy from a completely different domain? Write down one candidate for each rung.
How often do you seek out analogies from other fields when solving problems? What barriers prevent you from doing so?
Often confused with
References
- Dunbar, K. (1995). How scientists really reason: Scientific reasoning in real-world laboratories. In R. J. Sternberg & J. E. Davidson (Eds.), The nature of insight. MIT Press.
- Christensen, B. T., & Schunn, C. D. (2007). The role and impact of analogies in creative design. Design Studies, 28(3), 241-267.
- Fairhurst, F. (2012). Interview with Dick Gordon, June 2012.
CONTINUE THE CONVERSATION
Source texts
- Decisive How to Make Better Choices in Life and Work (Chip Heath)