April 14, 2025 • 11 mins
Hans Blumenberg, affected by his wartime experiences, explored the philosophical significance of metaphors, arguing they reveal deeper insights into human perception than explicit concepts. This approach is applied in executive coaching, where metaphors like "head and body" illuminate complex management-organization dynamics. Metaphorical analysis uncovers unconscious concerns, revealing hidden insights into decision-making processes and leadership challenges.
#metaphors, #executivecoaching, #leadership, #management, #philosophy, #decisionmaking, #HansBlumenberg
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Welcome to the Colig Experience.
(00:06):
In this episode, we're diving into bold insights, fearless experimentation,
and groundbreaking leadership strategies that are reshaping the way we think about management.
Today, we'll explore how metaphors, as championed by philosopher Hans Blumenberg,
reveal deeper human perceptions and transform our understanding of decision-making and leadership dynamics.
(00:29):
Let's get started.
After the war, Hans Blumenberg slept only six nights a week.
Until the end of his days, he tried to compensate for the time the Nazis stole from him
during his days in a labour camp, where he was sent because his mother was Jewish.
After the war, he returned to the university from which he was expelled,
(00:51):
following the Nuremberg Laws, where he studied philosophy and philology.
Indeed, the awareness of time's finitude occupied a significant part of Blumenberg's rich philosophical thought.
But Blumenberg visits us here because of another field where he is considered the spiritual father,
metapherology.
(01:13):
Yes, metapherology.
From the word metaphors.
Blumenberg argued that the metaphors we use are not merely linguistic decoration.
Metaphors, in his view, tell us about human perception much more than clear concepts designed to explain that perception.
Take, for example, the concept of truth that thinkers and philosophers have been exploring for thousands of years.
(01:40):
Blumenberg claims that if we examine it through its metaphors, for instance, through the expression,
We can learn more about our perception of the concept of truth than through any philosophical discussion.
According to Blumenberg, the elusive and imprecise nature of metaphors and the various interpretations they can carry are precisely what tell us a more complete, richer and deeper story about our perception of truth.
(02:08):
We love working with metaphors, whether in personal work within executive coaching or in our work with CEO and executive groups at Co-League.
To demonstrate the potential inherent in working with metaphors, we'll use a classic metaphor that frequently arises in discussions about management's role in organizations.
(02:29):
When we ask CEOs to complete the phrase, the management and the organization are like X and Y, we often receive the metaphor of head and body.
That is, management is the head and the organization is the body.
The choice of the head and body metaphor isn't surprising.
It stems from the head being the location of the brain, which is responsible for decision making and controlling various body parts that obey its instructions.
(02:58):
We believe we can safely say that many people would endorse this perception of the division between management and organization.
We think we can say in the same breath that this metaphor illuminates the relationship between management and organization in a light of command and control.
But when we work with metaphors, we linger longer with the metaphor before moving to the object the metaphor refers to.
(03:24):
So let's continue playing with head and body before returning to organization and management.
What other aspects exist in the relationship between head and body?
We could say the head is responsible for four of the five senses, sight, hearing, taste and smell.
On the other hand, the sense of touch is located in the body, not the head.
(03:48):
Notice the different nature of these senses.
The former are received inward while the latter feels reality from the outside.
Additionally, though thinking resides in the head, feelings are typically located in the heart and intuition in the gut.
And sometimes the head, brain, misinterprets reality and gives incorrect instructions to the body, for example, vertigo, anxiety attacks, etc.
(04:17):
Also, to change deeply ingrained behavioral patterns, one needs to rewire the brain connections through the body's behavior.
In other words, the body seemingly corrects the brain's decision-making mechanisms.
We could consider more aspects, but let's stop here.
So how do the relations between head and body look now?
(04:39):
We started with the perception that the head contains the brain that gives commands and the body is the executing contractor.
After deepening our exploration of these relationships, we can see there's more to them.
If we look at the division of labor among the senses, we can see that the head analyzes the environment, but who truly comes into contact with it is the body.
(05:03):
The head thinks it decides, but often we make decisions elsewhere and the head is a kind of rubber stamp and there are cases, as mentioned, where the body educates the head.
Now, after broadening our view of the head-body relationship and seeing its complexity, we can return with these insights and look again at management and organization.
(05:26):
Suddenly, they seem less command and control than at first glance, don't they?
Metaphors allow us a glimpse into the hidden thoughts we have regarding the objects they refer to.
And that's precisely the magic of working with metaphors.
In software development teams we've consulted with, we once asked a CTO to describe the relationship between the product development roadmap and the engineering team.
(05:54):
He immediately responded, they're like a map and explorers.
When we explored this metaphor further, we discovered that while he consciously believed in structured planning, the map guides the explorers, he unconsciously worried that too much structure might limit innovation.
The metaphor revealed his deeper concern about balancing direction with creative freedom, something he hadn't articulated in direct discussions about team management.
(06:23):
Let's note that metaphors are part of our language.
Spoken language already exists within a metaphorical field, an entire space of accepted metaphors with rich cultural and social loads.
In other words, what influences our choice of metaphor is not only our inner world, but also, and some would say, mainly, our environment.
(06:47):
Therefore, in our opinion, metaphor exercises of the kind described here will not work optimally with people from different cultural.
When we think about management and organization as head and body, one part of our brain, the analytical part, thinks about a brain giving commands and a body executing them.
But another part of our brain remembers that when it comes to brain and body, the relationship is much more complex, exactly as we described above.
(07:17):
Our automatic choice of metaphor stems from both these areas.
And of course, the more we invest thought and try to find the right metaphor, the more the analytical side will take over the process.
That's why when we ask for a metaphor, the request is to pull it out without much thought.
The goal is not to let the analytical part take command. Here's another metaphor.
(07:43):
We ask that other unconscious parts, areas we don't have direct access to, be pulled out along with the metaphor.
The role of metaphor exploration is to peel away the analytical layers that are clear to everyone.
For example, head gives commands, body executes and find which perceptions residing in unconscious areas are revealed in the choice of metaphor.
(08:09):
For example, the head is a rubber stamp of the body.
That's why the deeper we dig into the metaphor, the more unconscious aspects we discover that it tells us about what, perhaps, concerns us regarding the subject the metaphor refers to.
And here's the beauty of the metaphorical exercise.
(08:30):
More than telling us about the subject at hand, for example, management-organization relations, it tells us about what might concern the person who brought up the metaphor.
Let's take, for example, the division between rational decisions that supposedly reside in the brain versus intuition that resides in the gut and emotions that reside in the heart.
(08:54):
Metaphorically, of course.
When one of our medical device company executives chose the orchestra and conductor metaphor to describe their R&D team and leadership, we initially focused on the coordination aspects.
But as we explored it further, we uncovered their unspoken anxiety about timing.
Just as a conductor must precisely time each instrument's entrance, they worried about perfectly timing their product release against competitors.
(09:22):
This metaphor work helped them recognize and address timing pressures they hadn't consciously acknowledged were affecting their decision-making.
When someone chooses the head-body metaphor to describe management, organization relations, it might also tell us something about what concerns them regarding the nature of their decision-making.
(09:43):
It means that perhaps the issue of their decision-making style troubles them at a certain level they're not entirely aware of.
Perhaps they would like to decide more rationally, or perhaps the opposite, to dare to make decisions from the gut.
Perhaps along with pulling out the answer to the question about management-organization relations, other topics that exist there and don't receive verbal expression were pulled from our unconscious.
(10:11):
Perhaps.
Thus, from examining a relatively trivial statement, the organization and management are like head and body.
We arrived at non-trivial insights about the complex relationships between the organization and its management,
but also at much deeper insights regarding what might concern the person who chose this metaphor.
(10:34):
Wonderful, isn't it?
As we wrap up today's podcast, we delved into Hans Blumenberg's insights on metaforology.
Highlighting how metaphors like the head and body analogy offer profound understanding of management and leadership dynamics.
(10:55):
Don't forget to like, subscribe and share this episode with your friends and colleagues,
so they can also stay updated on the latest news and gain powerful insights.
Stay tuned for more updates.
Welcome to the Colig Experience.
(00:06):
In this episode, we're diving into bold insights, fearless experimentation,
and groundbreaking leadership strategies that are reshaping the way we think about management.
Today, we'll explore how metaphors, as championed by philosopher Hans Blumenberg,
reveal deeper human perceptions and transform our understanding of decision-making and leadership dynamics.
(00:29):
Let's get started.
After the war, Hans Blumenberg slept only six nights a week.
Until the end of his days, he tried to compensate for the time the Nazis stole from him
during his days in a labour camp, where he was sent because his mother was Jewish.
After the war, he returned to the university from which he was expelled,
(00:51):
following the Nuremberg Laws, where he studied philosophy and philology.
Indeed, the awareness of time's finitude occupied a significant part of Blumenberg's rich philosophical thought.
But Blumenberg visits us here because of another field where he is considered the spiritual father,
metapherology.
(01:13):
Yes, metapherology.
From the word metaphors.
Blumenberg argued that the metaphors we use are not merely linguistic decoration.
Metaphors, in his view, tell us about human perception much more than clear concepts designed to explain that perception.
Take, for example, the concept of truth that thinkers and philosophers have been exploring for thousands of years.
(01:40):
Blumenberg claims that if we examine it through its metaphors, for instance, through the expression,
We can learn more about our perception of the concept of truth than through any philosophical discussion.
According to Blumenberg, the elusive and imprecise nature of metaphors and the various interpretations they can carry are precisely what tell us a more complete, richer and deeper story about our perception of truth.
(02:08):
We love working with metaphors, whether in personal work within executive coaching or in our work with CEO and executive groups at Co-League.
To demonstrate the potential inherent in working with metaphors, we'll use a classic metaphor that frequently arises in discussions about management's role in organizations.
(02:29):
When we ask CEOs to complete the phrase, the management and the organization are like X and Y, we often receive the metaphor of head and body.
That is, management is the head and the organization is the body.
The choice of the head and body metaphor isn't surprising.
It stems from the head being the location of the brain, which is responsible for decision making and controlling various body parts that obey its instructions.
(02:58):
We believe we can safely say that many people would endorse this perception of the division between management and organization.
We think we can say in the same breath that this metaphor illuminates the relationship between management and organization in a light of command and control.
But when we work with metaphors, we linger longer with the metaphor before moving to the object the metaphor refers to.
(03:24):
So let's continue playing with head and body before returning to organization and management.
What other aspects exist in the relationship between head and body?
We could say the head is responsible for four of the five senses, sight, hearing, taste and smell.
On the other hand, the sense of touch is located in the body, not the head.
(03:48):
Notice the different nature of these senses.
The former are received inward while the latter feels reality from the outside.
Additionally, though thinking resides in the head, feelings are typically located in the heart and intuition in the gut.
And sometimes the head, brain, misinterprets reality and gives incorrect instructions to the body, for example, vertigo, anxiety attacks, etc.
(04:17):
Also, to change deeply ingrained behavioral patterns, one needs to rewire the brain connections through the body's behavior.
In other words, the body seemingly corrects the brain's decision-making mechanisms.
We could consider more aspects, but let's stop here.
So how do the relations between head and body look now?
(04:39):
We started with the perception that the head contains the brain that gives commands and the body is the executing contractor.
After deepening our exploration of these relationships, we can see there's more to them.
If we look at the division of labor among the senses, we can see that the head analyzes the environment, but who truly comes into contact with it is the body.
(05:03):
The head thinks it decides, but often we make decisions elsewhere and the head is a kind of rubber stamp and there are cases, as mentioned, where the body educates the head.
Now, after broadening our view of the head-body relationship and seeing its complexity, we can return with these insights and look again at management and organization.
(05:26):
Suddenly, they seem less command and control than at first glance, don't they?
Metaphors allow us a glimpse into the hidden thoughts we have regarding the objects they refer to.
And that's precisely the magic of working with metaphors.
In software development teams we've consulted with, we once asked a CTO to describe the relationship between the product development roadmap and the engineering team.
(05:54):
He immediately responded, they're like a map and explorers.
When we explored this metaphor further, we discovered that while he consciously believed in structured planning, the map guides the explorers, he unconsciously worried that too much structure might limit innovation.
The metaphor revealed his deeper concern about balancing direction with creative freedom, something he hadn't articulated in direct discussions about team management.
(06:23):
Let's note that metaphors are part of our language.
Spoken language already exists within a metaphorical field, an entire space of accepted metaphors with rich cultural and social loads.
In other words, what influences our choice of metaphor is not only our inner world, but also, and some would say, mainly, our environment.
(06:47):
Therefore, in our opinion, metaphor exercises of the kind described here will not work optimally with people from different cultural.
When we think about management and organization as head and body, one part of our brain, the analytical part, thinks about a brain giving commands and a body executing them.
But another part of our brain remembers that when it comes to brain and body, the relationship is much more complex, exactly as we described above.
(07:17):
Our automatic choice of metaphor stems from both these areas.
And of course, the more we invest thought and try to find the right metaphor, the more the analytical side will take over the process.
That's why when we ask for a metaphor, the request is to pull it out without much thought.
The goal is not to let the analytical part take command. Here's another metaphor.
(07:43):
We ask that other unconscious parts, areas we don't have direct access to, be pulled out along with the metaphor.
The role of metaphor exploration is to peel away the analytical layers that are clear to everyone.
For example, head gives commands, body executes and find which perceptions residing in unconscious areas are revealed in the choice of metaphor.
(08:09):
For example, the head is a rubber stamp of the body.
That's why the deeper we dig into the metaphor, the more unconscious aspects we discover that it tells us about what, perhaps, concerns us regarding the subject the metaphor refers to.
And here's the beauty of the metaphorical exercise.
(08:30):
More than telling us about the subject at hand, for example, management-organization relations, it tells us about what might concern the person who brought up the metaphor.
Let's take, for example, the division between rational decisions that supposedly reside in the brain versus intuition that resides in the gut and emotions that reside in the heart.
(08:54):
Metaphorically, of course.
When one of our medical device company executives chose the orchestra and conductor metaphor to describe their R&D team and leadership, we initially focused on the coordination aspects.
But as we explored it further, we uncovered their unspoken anxiety about timing.
Just as a conductor must precisely time each instrument's entrance, they worried about perfectly timing their product release against competitors.
(09:22):
This metaphor work helped them recognize and address timing pressures they hadn't consciously acknowledged were affecting their decision-making.
When someone chooses the head-body metaphor to describe management, organization relations, it might also tell us something about what concerns them regarding the nature of their decision-making.
(09:43):
It means that perhaps the issue of their decision-making style troubles them at a certain level they're not entirely aware of.
Perhaps they would like to decide more rationally, or perhaps the opposite, to dare to make decisions from the gut.
Perhaps along with pulling out the answer to the question about management-organization relations, other topics that exist there and don't receive verbal expression were pulled from our unconscious.
(10:11):
Perhaps.
Thus, from examining a relatively trivial statement, the organization and management are like head and body.
We arrived at non-trivial insights about the complex relationships between the organization and its management,
but also at much deeper insights regarding what might concern the person who chose this metaphor.
(10:34):
Wonderful, isn't it?
As we wrap up today's podcast, we delved into Hans Blumenberg's insights on metaforology.
Highlighting how metaphors like the head and body analogy offer profound understanding of management and leadership dynamics.
(10:55):
Don't forget to like, subscribe and share this episode with your friends and colleagues,
so they can also stay updated on the latest news and gain powerful insights.
Stay tuned for more updates.
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