How do you balance divergent and convergent thinking?

The GOLDEN RULE TO UNLEASH CREATIVITY is to START POSTPONING YOUR JUDGMENT. In my experience as facilitator of innovation teams you can balance creativity and constraints in a perfect way following these three simple steps: 1. Draft an innovation assignment in which you state all the goals, all the constraints and all the criteria the new solutions have to meet. 2. Diverge by drafting a brainstorm assignment in the form of a “How can we …” question, and start brainstorming postponing your judgement, ignoring all constraints. 3. Converge by selecting the best solutions fitting all the constraints, and work them out as concepts, pretotypes and new business cases. Following these steps will make you an amazing innovator. Lots of success

Para practicar el pensamiento divergente, es fundamental generar ideas, llevar un diario, escribir libremente, practicar técnicas de pensamiento divergente, desarrollar habilidades, mantener un estado de ánimo positivo, aprender a soltar ideas, practicar con diferentes temas, aprender a evaluar ideas y mantener el equilibrio entre el pensamiento divergente y el pensamiento convergente.

I love to share a CHECKLIST: 20 Tips for a perfect brainstorm: 1. Define a relevant challenge. 2. Create with the sponsor an assignment 3. Create momentum 4. Invite people for whom it is relevant. 5. Invite people for content as well as decision-making 6. Include outsiders 7. An mix of participants 8. Invite the senior problem-owner 9. A special venue 10. An safe environment 11. Never at the office 12. Spend twice as much time on the convergence - as on the divergence process. 13. Combine idea-generating techniques 14. Be open to suggestions 15. Make sure it is enjoyable 16. Time box 17. Keep up the pace 18. Appoint an expert facilitator 19. Make the output concrete 20. Creating together to generate buy-in

Para practicar el pensamiento convergente, es fundamental analizar la información, evaluar críticamente las ideas, seleccionar las soluciones más adecuadas, utilizar la lógica, desarrollar habilidades específicas, mantener un equilibrio con el pensamiento divergente, practicar regularmente, utilizar herramientas, aprender y mejorar constantemente.

There is a very delegate balance between divergent and convergent thinking, and each has its own role in the creative process. Divergent thinking is where you fall in love with the problem, exploring all angles and generating a myriad of options. Convergent thinking then takes the stage, refining ideas and making decisions. It aligns with a bias toward action focusing on practical solutions and implementation. The key is in the iteration, cycling between these two modes to deepen understanding and refine solutions. Keep each phase distinct to maintain their unique benefits, using frameworks like design thinking as your guide. This way, both kinds of thinking become tools in your arsenal for empathetic, effective problem-solving.

Para equilibrar el pensamiento divergente y convergente, es fundamental reconocer la importancia de ambos enfoques, entrenar a los miembros del equipo, utilizar herramientas adecuadas, mantener el foco en el desafío, priorizar la cantidad sobre la calidad, aprender a soltar ideas menos prometedoras, considerar la novedad como un factor importante, practicar la lluvia de ideas, establecer criterios claros y mantener el equilibrio.

Divergent and convergent thinking are two poles of the temperature scale. They don’t need to be thought of as contradictory or extremes. You can dial them up or down depending on the task at hand. Improvisation, Negotiation, and Prohibition are steps along the path that help structure rule systems that naturally balance the two.