Use metaphors.
From Herbjörn Wilhelmsen's blog:
A metaphor is an analogy between ideas. We use metaphors to explain or understand something in terms of something else...
...Human thinking depends on metaphor. We understand new or complex things in relation to things we already know...
...Metaphor stretches imagination in a way that can create powerful insights...
Prominent computer scientist Fernando J. Corbató said:
The value of metaphors should not be underestimated. Metaphors have the virtue of an expected behavior that is understood by all. Unnecessary communication and misunderstandings are reduced. Learning and education are quicker. In effect metaphors are a way of internalizing and abstracting concepts allowing one's thinking to be on a higher plane and low-level mistakes to be avoided.
From pp. 9-12 of Steve McConnell's Code Complete 2:
Important developments often arise out of analogies. By comparing a topic you understand poorly to something similar you understand better, you can come up with insights that result in a better understanding of the less-familiar topic. This use of metaphor is called "modeling"...
...In general, the power of models is that they're vivid and can be grasped as conceptual wholes. They suggest properties, relationships, and additional areas of inquiry...
...The history of science isn't a series of switches from the "wrong" metaphor to the "right" one. It's a series of changes from "worse" metaphors to "better" ones, from less inclusive to more inclusive, from suggestive in one area to suggestive in another...
...Software development is a younger field than most other sciences. It's not yet mature enough to have a set of standard metaphors. Consequently, it has a profusion of complementary and conflicting metaphors. Some are better than others. Some are worse....
...Over time, though, the person who uses metaphors to illuminate the software-development process will be perceived as someone who has a better understanding of programming and produces better code faster than people who don't use them.
In fact, McConnell speaks directly to your concern about using flawed or imperfect metaphors. [p. 20]
...Because metaphors are heuristic rather than algorithmic, they are not mutually exclusive... Use whatever metaphor or combination of metaphors stimulates your own thinking or communicates well with others or your team.
Using metaphors is a fuzzy business... If you extend them too far or in the wrong direction, they'll mislead you. Just as you can misuse any powerful tool, you can misuse metaphors, but their power makes them a valuable part of your intellectual toolbox.
And after you've mastered metaphors, learn how to draw.
Dan Roam's book entitled 'The Back of the Napkin' illustrates how the ability to draw can make anyone a very powerful communicator.
And you don't have to be Pablo Picasso. You just need to be neat and thoughtful.
