Divergent Thinking and Its 4 Guidelines
Many articles that talk about creativity mention the thinking technique that psychologists call divergent thinking. That’s because it’s the foundation of all creative thinking. I define divergent thinking as generating many solutions to a problem or many uses for an object. It’s the idea that there can be more than one right way to solve a problem. Divergent thinking is the opposite of convergent thinking, which is arriving at the one best idea. It’s important to emphasize that these two types of thinking should be done separately. You’ll see why below in guideline number 1.
Understanding the 4 guidelines of divergent thinking helps us accomplish this separation and much more. Understanding divergent thinking and its 4 guidelines helps set the stage for all your imaginative and creative thinking. Below are the 4 guidelines and you can watch Divergent Thinking (300+ Uses Series) — YouTube.
1. Don’t judge the ideas. Don’t judge whether something is possible, whether it’s worked before, or any type of judgment. There is no judgement in divergent thinking. All ideas are accepted..
2. Think of wild, crazy, impossible, and ridiculous ideas. Sticking to the possible and realistic stops us from thinking of creative new possibilities. Don’t limit yourself to the possible.
3. Go for quantity over quality. Think of lots and lots of ideas. Maybe like… 300+.
4. Build on the ideas of others. It’s not stealing, we’re all in this together and if it improves the lives of people, then all the better. When practicing divergent thinking with others, add to and change ideas. Creativity can be a team sport.
It’s not enough just to attempt to think of new ideas. We can achieve far greater and more intentional creativity by understanding these 4 simple guidelines. Allow me to expand on how each can affect team dynamics, problem solving, and communication.
Team dynamics can be enhanced by understanding when it is time to listen and when to provide feedback. By witnessing others providing wild and crazy ideas, we begin to realize how people think similarly and differently than us. We begin to build compassion because we see the authentic side of each other while we provide space for absurd ideas. We can begin to see the benefits of listening without judgement. Now everyone’s ideas are valid and interesting.
Communication is improved and becomes more productive. While we still know to ‘respect’ each other’s ideas, we won’t need to walk on eggshells in fear of crossing the subjective line of respect. We approach collaboration with greater curiosity to hear the ideas of others because we know the process works. We have a model of how to exchange ideas for solving problems in a more standardized way that helps us more easily communicate our creative ideas.
Problem solving can be more intentionally creative. There is a structure of sorts that we can follow that optimizes how we listen, communicate, ideate, and remain open to the unexpected. The 4 guidelines tear down many of the barriers we face when brainstorming with others. Introverts have a chance and a voice. The field is even in terms of whose ideas are better or worse, and more ideas can emerge.
How can we use divergent thinking and the 4 guidelines in our work and lives? Understand that the first good idea may not be the best. Challenge yourself and your team to go the distance to generate lots of ideas. We can use this understanding in the way we generate ideas so that we aren’t constrained by judgement, limiting beliefs, or the need to only offer ‘good ideas’. We can model how to think divergently and how to generate wild and crazy ideas so that we can normalize creative and abstract thinking.
If there was one creative thinking concept that I could share with the world, it would be divergent thinking. We need to believe there are other ways of living and solving problems. We need to be open to the unexpected. Divergent thinking makes this happen.