A complex subject — whether technical, ethical, or organizational — can sometimes click for an audience when you show that it’s surprisingly similar to a completely different situation they already know.

The challenge, of course, is that analogies eventually break down. They’re never perfect: you can only stretch them so far. My improvisations with clients and colleagues — when I suddenly realize “this is almost the same as…” — can sometimes cause more confusion than clarity. The risk of an associative mind. This particular story came up last summer, during a discussion with a client about why, how much, where, and when we adapt a “default” Plone installation.

For this talk I looked for a title that would hint at what I’m going to share. But giving too much away would spoil the surprise, undermine the storytelling, or let you predict where my analogy goes sideways. Better to keep that for the session itself — and maybe the hallway conversations afterwards. ;-)