Divergent Mind: Thriving in a World That Wasn't Designed for You

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Veale, Tony; Li, Guofu (2016-04-01). "Distributed Divergent Creativity: Computational Creative Agents at Web Scale". Cognitive Computation. 8 (2): 175–186. doi: 10.1007/s12559-015-9337-9. ISSN 1866-9964. S2CID 255615490. Convergent thinking isn’t bad or unproductive. It’s necessary! This process is more analytical and “realistic.” It uses logic to narrow down ideas. This part of the thinking process requires looking for fallacies and potential problems. By narrowing down ideas that would not possibly work, you can find one or two ideas that will work without a hitch. Examples of Convergent and Divergent Thinking Give your team a break. This break could be an overnight break - many people have their best creative ideas when they are sleeping, showering, or thinking about other things. Tell your team to write down any more creative ideas that they might have, and bring them to you before the next meeting.

This isn't set in stone. Trust your team members. If they prefer one style over the other, give them the chance to shine! Other Ideas for Brainstorming López-Ortega, Omar (2013-07-01). "Computer-assisted creativity: Emulation of cognitive processes on a multi-agent system". Expert Systems with Applications. 40 (9): 3459–3470. doi: 10.1016/j.eswa.2012.12.054. ISSN 0957-4174.Get your team together and treat your problem like a conflict in a book. Create a "storyboard" that explains what led to the problem and the conflict at hand. (Post-its and erasable markers are great tools for this type of brainstorming!) This method gives your team a new way to look at your problem. SCAMPER

Activities which promote divergent thinking include creating lists of questions, setting aside time for thinking and meditation, brainstorming, subject mapping, bubble mapping, keeping a journal, playing tabletop role-playing games, [1] creating artwork, and free writing. In free writing, a person will focus on one particular topic and write non-stop about it for a short period of time, in a stream of consciousness fashion. Knowing the differences between convergent vs. divergent thinking can help you brainstorm. However, this approach may not be the best process for every team. Below are some other ways to brainstorm new ideas and find solutions to your most pressing problems. Storyboarding Isen, Alice M.; Johnson, Mitzi M.; Mertz, Elizabeth; Robinson, Gregory F. (1985). "The influence of positive affect on the unusualness of word associations". Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 48 (6): 1413–1426. doi: 10.1037/0022-3514.48.6.1413. PMID 4020605.

Synectics” is a term coined by psychologist William J. J. Gordon. Basically, it means being able to find connections and relationships between concepts, objects, and ideas that seem unrelated. This exercise takes a lot of mental work. We can do it daily by choosing the concepts ourselves. For example: