I highly resonate with this technique. I think analogies especially that are common and widely known make abstract ideas easy to relate with. It also has the potential to bring innovative solutions. Many a times, entreprenuers find inspiration in nature, human behavior, or historical evolution. Such cross discipline thinking can also help the team finding solutions in places that may not have considered earlier.

I would say it is important to move beyond being aware. Sometimes breaking the ideation part into a smaller, definitive action can be helpful. For example, a leader could ask a team member who is less confident in the team to do a specific task related to ideation like, 'as we ideate could you please find three sources and reflection on what the market looks like right now?". A later on ask them what do they think about it. This may help the team member feel valued and heard.

One thing that I found missing in this article is how much time should a person or group spend on ideating? In music, we see some of the most popular song lyrics written in 5 minutes while some may takes months or even years. From business perspective and for a first-time entreprenuer, how much time should be spent on the ideating stage?

I 100% agree with this statement. Ideas make a lot of sense in our head. But as I give them some form, either by writing or verbalizing, or even bringing it up with friends or mentors, I realize what are some assumptions that I made, or where are the gaps. It helps me in identifying the constructs or limitations and sometimes also ideas to address those constructs.