When Tarot cards are laid out on the table, some smirk, others freeze. For some, it's an archaic method of self-deception, for others—a source of wisdom, symbolic navigation, subconscious insight. But while traditional data analytics dominate business decision-making, some entrepreneurs and executives are exploring alternative approaches to complement their rational processes, including symbolic and metaphorical tools. Let's examine this phenomenon not as mysticism—but as a potential language that can support certain types of thinking.
What Are Tarot Cards Really?
Tarot cards are 78 archetypal images, divided into Major and Minor Arcana. They have formed over centuries and reflect patterns of human experience: the hero's journey, struggle with inner chaos, transitions, choices, destruction, and renewal. It's not magic, but a symbolic language.
You can work with tarot as a metaphorical tool: each card functions as a mirror. It doesn't predict the future, but activates associations. We project our meanings onto the card, like onto a cloud in the sky. For those interested in alternative decision frameworks, this means one thing: symbols can potentially provide access to parts of thinking that usually remain silent—intuition, bodily perception, non-rational knowledge.
Why Are Some Drawn to Alternative Decision Tools?
There are several possible explanations:
- Decision fatigue. Research on decision paralysis shows that excessive information can sometimes hinder decision-making. Studies by psychologists like Barry Schwartz on "The Paradox of Choice" demonstrate that too many options can lead to cognitive overload and decision paralysis.
- Limitations of linear thinking. When it comes to decisions with no clear right answer—changing business direction, finding a co-founder, scaling or shutting down—structured analytics alone may not provide complete guidance. Metaphorical practices might create space for exploring unconscious patterns.
- Search for reflective space. Entrepreneurs often experience isolation in decision-making. Symbolic tools may provide an opportunity for self-reflection, but in a figurative form.
- Intuitive decision-making. Some business decisions involve what psychologists call "thin-slicing"—making judgments based on limited information and experience. Tools that help articulate these impressions may appeal to some decision-makers.
Metaphorical Frameworks as Business Tools
Some businesses use metaphorical frameworks not as predictive tools but as methods for reframing and examining problems. Here's how such approaches might be conceptualized:
- Alternative strategic framing
Instead of traditional analyses, some might use visual or symbolic prompts to explore:
The value comes not from the symbols themselves but from how they might trigger new thinking patterns or perspectives. - Current position or challenges
- Potential obstacles
- Overlooked opportunities
- Team dialogue
Metaphorical tools can sometimes facilitate difficult conversations. Images or archetypes might trigger meta-conversations about team dynamics or project contributions in ways that feel less personal than direct feedback. - Customer understanding
Marketers have long used archetypes—Hero, Magician, Caregiver—to understand brand positioning. Similar metaphorical frameworks can sometimes generate hypotheses about customer segments, motivations, and pain points.
Metaphorical Tools in Practice
Some organizations incorporate metaphorical thinking into their work, though documented examples specifically using tarot are limited. What we do see are various metaphorical tools in business planning, such as:
- SWOT Analysis: A metaphorical "map" for identifying Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats
- The Business Model Canvas: A "blueprint" for visualizing business models
- Porter's Five Forces: A "lens" for analyzing competitive forces
- The Iceberg Model: A metaphor for understanding surface issues versus deeper systemic causes
- Design thinking practices that include associative visualization techniques
These frameworks demonstrate how metaphorical thinking is already embedded in conventional business practices, though in forms that carry greater mainstream acceptance.
Balancing Intuition and Data
Research on decision-making suggests that both intuition and data serve different purposes. Data-driven decisions reduce bias and improve accuracy, while intuition can be valuable in situations where data is incomplete or ambiguous. The most effective approach often combines both, using data to inform decisions while allowing experience-based judgment to guide areas where data may be limited.
Leadership competencies for navigating uncertainty typically include adaptability, decision-making under ambiguity, emotional intelligence, and strategic thinking—skills that engage both analytical and intuitive capacities.
Personal Experiment
In December, I conducted a session with a tarot reader without telling them about my business. I asked only one question: "What am I not seeing that prevents the project from reaching a new level?"
The response prompted me to reflect on my project's positioning. I had been marketing it as AI analytics, but personally viewed it as a platform for strategic thinking. This reflection—not the cards themselves—led me to reconsider my messaging strategy.
This example illustrates how symbolic tools can sometimes function as mirrors for our existing thoughts rather than as sources of new information.
Conclusion
Metaphorical tools like tarot cards don't predict the future. At best, they might offer a different perspective on the present. If approached as a format for self-reflection rather than divination, such tools might help some individuals access insights that conventional analysis doesn't surface.
In business contexts, the value of any decision-making tool—conventional or alternative—ultimately depends on how it's used. The most effective leaders typically develop a toolkit that includes both analytical frameworks and reflective practices, drawing on each as appropriate to the situation.
As we navigate increasing complexity in business environments, the ability to integrate different modes of thinking—analytical and intuitive, linear and metaphorical—may become an increasingly valuable leadership competency.
