A group of human resource development (HRD) practitioners participated in an innovative session on applying metaphor in HRD research and practice. The session objectives were as follows: (1) facilitate a dialogue between those who wrote for and those who read the Advances in Developing Human Resources (ADHR)issue on metaphor in HRD; (2) extend the dialogue beyond the ADHR issue by exploring the application of metaphor in HRD research and practice through case studies; (3) identify new opportunities for research into HRD metaphor and a network of interested researchers. The session was designed in four parts as follows: (1) an introduction that included definitions of metaphor, introductions to the language of metaphor and various forms of metaphor, descriptions of the theoretical links between metaphor and behavior/behavior change, and examples of the use of metaphor in HRD research and practice; (2) small group discussions on metaphor in HRD research and practice; (3) a group discussion debriefing during which each small group shared a summary of its discussions and conclusions and facilitators identified cross-cutting agreements, concerns, and questions about metaphor application in HRD research and practice; and (4) a wrap-up during which the session's main learning points were identified and summarized. (Contains 8 references.) (MN)