I don’t know about you but in my short, short time in the business world, I’ve come across my fair share of business analogies. What I’ve come to notice is that after a while, these analogies become a lot like a Black Eyed Peas song, pretty damn repetitive. So, I figured it would be fun to make a list of the most over-used business analogies. Why not, right?
Now, before I start, let me just say this. These are used a LOT, but that doesn’t mean that I disagree with any of them. For one, I’ve used a lot of them right here on The Curbside Marketer, and we all know how I love my analogies. So if I link to one of your blog posts where you used one (some of the links include blogs of everyone from David Spinks, Ryan Stephens, and Matt Cheuvront, to Seth Godin and Chris Brogan), so don’t be discouraged! It just means that you’re right there with everyone else that uses it and now you’re famous!
GOLF ANALOGIES
Right off the bat, I’m guilty as charged for golf analogies. I think part of this has to do with golf being such a big part of conducting business, but there are really so many different ways you can relate golf to business. Golf is really such an intricate game that involves so many factors that it does lend itself very well to analogies, and I’m pretty convinced I could write some sort of E-Book with nothing but golf analogies.
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ANYTHING TO DO WITH FISH
I don’t really know why but this seems to be another popular choice among business people and bloggers alike. This can be the big fish in a small pond analogy, involve some form of fish tank or fish bowl, the sport of fishing, or mention fish in some other way. No matter which way you cut it, us business folk sure are a fishy bunch, myself included!
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FIND YOUR INNER CHILD
I do feel sort of bad putting this on here, because I really do love this analogy, but it is probably the most used of any of these. The truth is that children really do have it figured out. They have terrific imaginations, don’t worry about things too far in the future or the past, are wildly curious, are insanely to the point, and really have more fun than the rest of us. So, since kids are the kings and queens of being awesome, why not talk about them so much? This is also my excuse for why I plan on acting like a kid well into my 80s.
Image by lambertwm
THE COCKTAIL PARTY
Don’t you wish you had a cocktail for every time you heard a cocktail analogy? This is the only one I don’t have a lot of blogging evidence of, but I know it exists, trust me! Plus, you know it’s true, right? Usually this one goes something like in social media you can’t just walk into the cocktail party and start selling your product, you have to take time to develop those relationships first. I’m sure there’s other uses of the cocktail party in an analogy, but this is by far the most overused.
Image by Kenny Hindgren
THE BAND-AID ANALOGY
Rounding out the list is the ever popular band-aid analogy. You better not just be going after the quick fix for your company and looking for band aids. You need to find the root of the problem and fix it, that way there won’t be any long term infection. So, you can’t just slap a band-aid on a broken leg, you need to treat it and heal it. Right, Ryan? If I had an actual band-aid for every time I came across a band-aid analogy, well, I’d be stuck with a bunch of useless band-aids.
Image by Mimi_K
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So there you have it, five of the most overused business analogies. If you’re sitting there steaming over an analogy I blatantly missed, then get your panties out of a wad and tell us about it in the comments! Oh yea, and this post is obviously link bait, so help a brother out and give this sucker a re-tweet! 
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I do these all the god damn time. Analogies are fun dude…
And they are lazy!
Haha they are extremely lazy, which is what makes them awesome. When I can't think of what to write about I pick random objects to try and come up with an analogy for. Every now and then I get something that's worth writing about.
Analogies have a place, especially in business. The world that is mergers and acquisitions and spreadsheets and projections and and and can be overwhelming and confusing for folks. Thus the analogies. It makes the intangible accesible.
By the by, I think you should get this for work. I saw it at the bookstore and laughed for a good 2 minutes! http://www.calendars.com/Office-Humor/Buzzword-...
The most overused business analogy? Business as war. Until you've served a combat tour ON THE FRONT LINES, you have no idea what war really is like.
Exactly, it brings complex concepts down to a level where almost anybody can understand it. Thus the beauty of the analogy
Exactly, it brings complex concepts down to a level where almost anybody can understand it. Thus the beauty of the analogy
Exactly, it brings complex concepts down to a level where almost anybody can understand it. Thus the beauty of the analogy
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