Public administrators—both practitioners and academics—need to develop critical-thinking skills. The mental exercise required to assess the validity of myths and metaphors can help develop this capacity to think beyond boundaries of problems.
Drawing from the work of diverse authors such as Percy Bysshe Shelley, the early nineteenth-century poet, and more current works of the philosopher Neison Goodman, this article shows how the conflict inherent in metaphors can be an exercise in creativity. Examples particularly relevant to public administration are drawn from Homer's Odyssey.
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