Divergent Thinking: The Truth About Creative Problem-solving

Divergent thinking is where “new” comes from. New ideas. New color schemes, shapes, and sizes. New methods, modes, and modalities. New flavors, textures, smells, and mouthfeels. New double-door fridges for old obese America. New and larger tubs of ice cream, cereal boxes, packs of chips, and refillable cups.

Changing Ways

“Divergent” is defined as, “different or becoming different from something else.” Add thinking and get a masterpiece, “considering many different possibilities, especially unusual ones, in a way that helps you think of new ideas or solutions.”

The magic is the answers you come up with may have not existed before. Answers novel and creative and original. Answers which allow you to see things in a new way. Answers unconventional at the time.

Just Diverge, Bro

No wonder divergent thinking is needed for creative acts. Question is, how do we engage in it? Can we spark a fire for originality? Are you and I capable of deviating from the usual, producing exciting opportunities and surprising answers?

Yes and no. It happens spontaneously most of the time. Leaps in thought and considering new lines of attack aren’t exactly “mechanical”. Howbeit, they are processes. Processes of the mind.

Divergent Elements

Depending on the thinker, artist, or Joe practicing divergent thought, it’ll include something of the following. Breaking the mold and stepping away from the conventional solution. Going against the grain and seeing the known in a new light. Putting together unfit puzzle pieces in an attempt to combine the disparate. If a perspective shift didn’t suffice, you transform the known.

Throughout this chain of events, your brain is trying for alternatives and solutions. The majority will be a pile of shit. 99 out of 100. The 1 percent however, might be a surprising way of doing something. Might be an innovative fridge shape or cooling system. Might be a microphone boom arm resistant to vibration. Might be a combination of spices and ingredients for a succulent meal.

Has To Be New

What the lightbulb above your head is does not matter. Only, it must break away from the past and take a different direction from the prevailing mode. Established concepts and principles? Boring! Fresh combinations and clues which mutate into standout products and services? Wonderful!

Living your years, you have experimented with divergent thinking already. Maybe not purposefully. Maybe you didn’t come up with the latest and greatest seasoning mix for bomb ass tacos. But I promise you have the ability and have used it. Particularly as a kid. Remember skipping stairs, living room gymnastics, trying shortcuts, and coming up with languages with your buddies?

Creative Spark

Recall what we used to say as kids? Rules are meant to be broken. Old categories are there for new categories to form. Facts and concepts are toys for us to combine or break or use in novel ways. This is why you engage in lifelong learning. This is why you embrace boredom and permit your mind to wander. This is why everyone tells you being a child is great. This is why the best minds encourage creative acts or jobs—writing, speaking, sculpting, video.

Unsurprisingly, creativity research is abounding with it. Various puzzles and tests are given, and if reliable and valid, can be taken as estimates of your potential for creative thought. Long story short: you can train yourself—your brain, rather—to be creative.

Brain Steroids (shh)

In isolation, it leaves you free and childlike, unchained from the constraints of the world. In combination with convergence where you put the puzzle pieces together, it becomes a sweet solution to a bitter burden. Divergent is the new. Convergent is the combination. You call it problem-solving.

What’s empowering is that while you naturally may be analytical or creative—convergent or divergent—you can learn to get better. You can train your brain. You can improve your decision making and problem-solving.

Slow Down Dude

The challenge? Time. Slowing down to think is a challenge in today’s world. Projects have deadlines and deadlines have milestones and milestones have tasks and the tasks are overflowing on your calendar. You don’t want disappointed clients, customers, coworkers, or supervisors.

Buzzing through life leaves you in your comfort zone while making you uncomfortable. Not one soul enjoys being in a rush. Nobody is fulfilling their potential as a rusher. Fast and predictable works sometimes, but standout results come from new. New opportunities, ways, perspectives, and knowledge.

Indoctrinated Convergence

All problems start with discovery. Swift assessments don’t always suffice. They often end in arguments and miscalculations due to your incapability to slow down and consider the possibilities. Maybe your spouse didn’t buy the cookie sachet to sabotage your diet? Could the budget be overrun due to a poor project plan or Joe’s inability to communicate? Determine the cause, and look for multiple fixes.

Convergent things have concrete answers. Convergent thinking was all of school. Multiple-choice quizzes, calculations, and anything where you add up old facts into another old fact. Thus, we need to exercise that creative asshole inside with his beret and paintbrush.

Divergent On Purpose

Rowing against the tide isn’t easy. Be mindful. Before making big decisions, take the perspective of other team members, and converse what you came up with. Delay yesses and noes and consider a handful of solutions—frees you from some pressure. Tell your team. Tell your boss. Tell your spouse, parents, and kids. You need psychological distance and time to make quality decisions.

Speaking of the “consider solutions” part… You could brainstorm, mind map, lightning decision jam, or whatever ideation technique you prefer. Divergent thinking means thinking outside the box. Try group sessions or solo. Believe me, frontloading thinking and approaching it creatively now can save you heaps of dollars and stressful hours later.

My Two Pence

Everyone has deadlines. Everyone has important decisions. Everyone has crucial problems. Everyone feels a bit rushed and behind. It’s OK and understandable! Know that without curiosity, thinking time, and risk-taking, you won’t improve. Don’t be afraid of steering away from traditional and settled routines.

To conclude, divergent thinking poses a plethora of benefits. Benefits you can tap into. Divergent thinkers are highly valued in the workspace, as they encourage teams to exercise their creativity and work collectively, hence they are often leaders. Try it. Ask questions. Take perspectives. Brainstorm possibilities. Delay decisions. Support change. Risk it for the biscuit.