Divergent and Convergent are two ways of thinking and solving problems that people use every day. Learning to use and balance both ways of thinking can allow for true creativity.
Most people lean towards a leading thinking style. Convergent thinkers see a problem and collect information that they can apply to that problem. They “converge” all their resources to solve the problem at hand. This is the usual way of mathematicians and scientists.
Divergent thinkers are the “outside the box” thinkers who see a problem and work outward to find creative new solutions. They use the problem as a stimulus for new solutions and ideas rather than converging on the problem itself. This is the usual thinking style of entrepreneurs, inventors and “artistic” people.
Each thinking style has a critical role to play in the creative process, and teaching children how to use both sets them up for a lifetime of success.
Usually the first step in the creative process is Divergent. When you start brainstorming, you don’t limit yourself, but you come up with as many ideas as possible, no matter how outlandish or unlikely. Once you have all of your ideas, reviewing them through a convergent process allows you to narrow down and identify your best chances for success.
This is where there is a disconnect for people or groups that use only one method of thinking. If you only think about Divergent, it’s hard to achieve anything because there are so many great ideas and it’s easy to lose focus on your original goal.
If you just think Convergent, you’ll usually get to the answer faster, but you may be missing out on more creative and potentially better answers.
Here are some activities and games you can do with your kids to train their convergent and divergent thinking muscles:
What’s in a word? A quick game to play while you wait is to pick a long word and see how many different little words you can find in it. This is a great exercise to see how something like one word can be broken down and rearranged into many different things.
in someone else’s shoes – Anytime you can see a different perspective or see a situation from someone else’s shoes, it forces you to think divergently. Open up to different points of view by talking to new people and really listening. Role-playing is a great way to put yourself in someone else’s shoes – by pretending to BE someone else, you have to THINK like someone else.
Get a new perspective – Get in the habit of looking beyond the first answer that comes to mind. A great Turkish photographer put it to me this way: “When you’re taking a picture, find your perspective and stop. Don’t take that picture. That’s the one every amateur tourist takes. Find a new perspective and stop, don’t take that picture. either. That’s the photo most photographers take and think is good enough. Go ahead and when you’re at your fourth or fifth perspective, that’s the award-winning, once-in-a-lifetime shot.”
This is a great activity to do with children. Take out your camera and take the same photo from different perspectives, see which ones are the best in the end.
This can also be applied to any problem in life. Don’t settle for the first solution that comes your way, empower yourself and your children to keep looking to see what other options are out there.
This is a…. – A great game to play while on the go, take any item you see or have with you and try to think of as many different uses as you can. Take turns and see who can come up with the most ideas. You may want to write down your good ideas because you never know where they might lead. George Washington Carver came up with over 300 uses for peanuts, a prime example of divergent thinking!
fact detective – Every time you listen to a news story together (or even read a storybook), help your children practice their convergent thinking by answering the 5 W and 1 H questions. Identify who, what, when, where, why and how It is a good exercise that gets children into the habit of picking out the relevant details and making them converge on an understanding. This is especially useful when trying to solve a problem.
organize those facts – Too much information can be overwhelming, especially for divergent thinkers who generate ideas. Help them develop an organizing system so that once they have their ideas, they can converge on a useful idea. Lists, flash cards, mind maps, or filing systems are great tools for organizing ideas.
Hold regular family brainstorming sessions that employ divergent and convergent thinking strategies. Whenever you are faced with a problem, such as where you will go on your next vacation or how you can save electricity, brainstorm as many different solutions as you can (Divergent) and then examine each one as a possible solution (Convergent). This is a great way to build strong family communication and allow children to feel like they really have a say in family decisions.