A lot of people live much of life on the World Wide Web. Does that make them spiders? What would you call a 3D web? Imagine, if you will, a web in three dimensions. From your position at the centre of your web, you have strands of non-sticky silk, perhaps the toughest biological material on the planet, radiating outwards in all directions. Running in circles roughly parallel to each other, stickier, more elastic silk join the strands of non-sticky silk in a manner resembling, not the circular orb webs we are familiar with, but rather a sphere of sticky silk resting on “spines” of non-sticky silk. It would be something like connecting the spines of a sea urchin together with sticky spider silk!

That is an example of being able to think in terms of analogies. Thinking analogically certainly helps a great deal in being creative. It helps our thinking to stay fresh and opens up our minds to new ideas and new possibilities all the time. Far from the well-worn “out with the old, in with the new” kind of thinking, thinking in terms of analogies helps to build upon what is known to be true, adding new knowledge to that which already exists. Since creativity for us humans consists largely of making something new out of combinations and permutations of what is already existing, and perhaps what is freshly discovered, analogical thinking is really what helps us to be truly generating new ideas and reshaping concepts to open up an infinity of possibility.

In a sense, all of us live in a web. Think about your web. Does it resemble more of a 2D or 3D structure? If a slice of it represents what you currently know and operate out of, as pertaining to your job or vocation or business, how much more ought you to learn about the other slices? Would knowing something about electrostatic shielding help you in your investment business? Perhaps. It would certainly help you to spark off ideas about how to preserve your clients’ assets, would it not?

So, don’t wait for Spiderman to come and save the day. You’re already a Spiderman yourself. Make full use of your web! Think Spider!