Every grade school student learns the difference between a metaphor and simile in their basic reading and writing classes. But are you aware that metaphors shape our perceptions of how we respond to business and life?
“We can’t not think metaphorically,” according to Charles Faulkner, a noted Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP) writer and trainer. His premise is that most businesses operate from a particular metaphor and that it’s pretty easy to determine by walking through a company’s headquarters. Some of the more popular metaphors for business are: family, game, machine, and organism.
I had an opportunity to study with Faulkner a couple decades ago. Here is a simple chart he shared on how these metaphors can play out in a business:
| Business Metaphors | Family | Game | Machine | Organism |
| Desired States |
Togetherness Security Stability Continuity Support |
WinningFun
Excitement Challenge Skill Participation |
ProductivityEfficiency
Dependable Interchangeable |
LivingGrowing
Nitch Reproduction Food |
| Values | LoveHonesty
Fidelity Trust Respect Community |
PlayfulnessLearning
Cooperation Competition Integrity |
DependabilityTime Saving
Quality |
RenewalSurvival
Growth Adaptation |
|
Beliefs |
Participation in something larger Play certain roles Family/Non-family |
Significance Challenge Winning is good Playing or not |
Necessary part Must serve Replaceable |
Consume to survive Survival of the fittest Interdependence Reproduction Death |
You can discover a person’s metaphors by observing their language, hearing their goals, watching their actions and looking at their “artifacts” (their clothing, office decorations, etc.).
Faulkner suggests that man’s metaphors evolved through the stages of family, game, machine (corporation), to society/culture. And within that last stage is “war.” We all know someone whose metaphor for business is war. They tend to make comments about business being a battlefield, rallying the troops, getting shot down, or protecting one’s turf.
If war happens to be your metaphor for business, you might enjoy reading The Art of War. An MBA professor at a nationally recognized school of business recommends the book to all her students. Compiled more than 2,000 years ago by a mysterious warrior-philosopher named Sun Tzu, this Chinese classic is considered by many to be the most prestigious and influential book on strategy in the world today. This professor obviously relates to business in the war metaphor.
The Art of War is about dealing with conflict as it abounds everywhere in business and life. The Chinese strategy is to deal with conflict wisely, honorably, and victoriously. This treatise studies the anatomy of organizations in conflict. Its ideas can be applied to every level from the interpersonal to the international, and are reportedly studied in Asia by modern politicians and business executives.
As I read The Art of War, I was able to apply these ideas to my business, and also see their broader applications to world politics and recent armed conflict strategies. For instance, if the past presidential administration had understood these concepts, we likely would not be fighting two wars today. Similarly, in my opinion, if the long-term implications of the recent healthcare strategy had been fully analyzed according to considerations in The Art of War, the resulting bill would have been quite different.
The Art of War aims at invincibility, victory without battle and unassailable strength through understanding the physics, politics and psychology of conflict.
Even if your current metaphor for running your business is not the war metaphor, The Art of War is still a good read. In doing business, you will have conflict with your customers, your employees, your vendors and, at times, your family. The Art of War gives you the perspective to step back, analyze the conflict and see a more positive strategy for resolution. As Newsweek so boldy declared, “Absorb this book and you can throw out all those contemporary books about management leadership.” I tend to agree. These 2,000-year-old ideas are timeless.
Look around your own business and see what metaphors tend to govern your day-to-day meetings, conversations and visuals. As Charles Faulkner mentioned when he walked into a corporate headquarters and found medieval armor in the lobby, “They clearly operated from a war metaphor.” He went on to note that the autographed footballs in one president’s office were a tipoff to business as sport. According to Faulkner, Andrew Carnegie’s metaphor was: “Business is the greatest game of all.”
Continue the blog and share what metaphor your company operates from. And peruse a copy of The Art of War.
Tags: business as war, conflict resolution, metaphors for business