The importance of building on simple metaphors

Over the last couple of months I have heard more metaphors being used in the workplace. Maybe I have become more sensitive to these as I have revisited my NLP knowledge, or maybe because people are reaching out for simplicity of messages in a complex environment.

Some metaphors used are very insightful and can help identify where people are at, as metaphors are:

'a type of analogy and is closely related to other rhetorical figures of speech that achieve their effects via association, comparison or resemblance including allegory, hyperbole, and simile.' (Source - Wikipedia)

Some metaphors stop before resolution is reached with the given scenario in the hope that the listener applies their own reflection from the story. But what if the listener, for various reasons, misses out on the reflection? Can building on simple metaphors as an individual or group help work towards organisational solutions?

Example: http://clearwater-uk.com/MyBlog/2010/02/28/five-monkeys-a-banana-and-corporate-culture/ (so that's why we use black ink!)

Another metaphor to explore further is: 'Turkeys don't vote for Christmas'

Assumption – Turkeys will never vote for Christmas and they are and always will be the traditional meal at Christmas.

Appreciative Inquiry – So why don't Turkeys vote for Christmas? In the past there has never been anything in it for them.

So how can this be changed as Christmas comes round every year? What can you do to make Christmas more attractive to turkeys? Does it mean breaking with tradition and doing something different?

Asking genuine questions in relation to the metaphor provides a safe environment to move forward what are - in real life – extremely complex and potentially 'wicked' scenarios.
 
I hope that in the process of exploring this metaphor I have not put people off their Christmas dinners! ;)