Curiosity Cartographer
A student who navigates unfamiliar ideas and maps connections others might miss.
Where might curiosity become a contribution?
i⁹ / The Metaphor Studio
Numbers can reveal patterns. A truly useful insight can change the story someone tells about who they are, the opportunities they could create, and the world they could help shape.
FROM INSIGHT TO IMAGINATION
02 / REIMAGINE
“Then what could I be?”
A metaphor opens identities, roles and environments that were previously hard to name.
03 / CREATE
“What shall we make of it?”
The new story becomes a mission, a conversation, an opportunity or a meaningful decision.
Two real stories / The power of a phrase
A great metaphor is memorable because it means something—and consequential because it helps someone do something new.
PERSON / AN ENDURING CALLING
In 1986, David Collins began asking how deeper human understanding could help people find meaningful ways to contribute. The metaphor “People Architect” helped him see a much larger possibility: not merely doing a job, but helping reshape how an industry understood and supported people.
THE QUESTION IT OPENS
David’s account · a personal turning point
DOMAIN / CULTURE REAWAKENED
In one company, an evocative description of what people had joined helped employees rediscover the entrepreneurial energy they valued. Through self-led change projects, they went on to design a team kitchen center where new ideas and projects could take shape.
THE QUESTION IT OPENS
David’s account · organization unnamed
One shift / Three ways to see
Person.
Opportunity.
Domain.
A metaphor might illuminate a person, help create an opportunity, or change the understanding of a domain. Often, it does all three. Choose a lens.
PERSON / THE IDENTITY
People Architect
From an occupation to a vocation—someone who helps design pathways for other people to flourish.
THE INTERROBANG QUESTION
What if the thing I am called to build is not a building—but a new way people can see themselves?
THE POSSIBLE TURN
A sense of mission changes which opportunities are worth creating.
Conceptual interpretation, not a scored assessment.
The spark library / Thought experiments
Not personality labels. Not predetermined futures. Just examples of how a metaphor can change the questions we ask about a person, an opportunity, or a place.
Bridge Maker
A returning professional whose experience can connect people, needs and solutions.
Which divides could this person help others cross?
Possibility Scout
An early-career explorer who spots emerging opportunities and gathers people around them.
What overlooked frontier deserves a closer look?
All spark-library examples are fictional creative illustrations, not individual assessments or promises of performance.
Nine markets / Nine possible breakthroughs
Click a market to see an illustrative metaphor, then consider the question it could unlock. These are creative examples—not client results or product performance claims.
01 / 09ILLUSTRATIVE METAPHOR
THE CONVENTIONAL FRAME
“Choose a college.”
A NEW WAY TO SEE
A campus as a launchpad.
WHAT CHANGES
A campus becomes more than a destination; it becomes a place to develop and contribute.
THE QUESTION WORTH ASKING
Where might this student take flight—and what would help?
Illustration · Not a validated i⁹ output
The deeper proposition
i⁹ can help organizations ask the right questions, illuminate what matters, and design distinctive intelligence experiences that turn discoveries into options and choices.