Convergent or Divergent?
Do you think inside or outside the box? Are you one to colour inside or outside the lines? Do you adhere to conventionality or make your own rules? Convergent or divergent creativity?
Convergent thinking is like being at university. In whatever field you are studying you are taught the ideas and thoughts other people have already thought. We learn their solutions. Convergent thinking is the ability to give a correct answer. In most tasks or exams, we are asked to answer the questions correctly – to the best of our knowledge. Convergent thinking is getting it right. We limit our thinking to what we are told, taught or know.
What about divergent thinking. This is the ability to think creatively, to enhance or generate a better way of doing something or expressing an idea. It is the process of coming up with new, original or unique concepts. Thinking in this way opens the possibility of many solutions to established ideas. A writer, for example, adheres to a genre plot line however he thinks in a divergent manner to create a best-selling novel.
There is nothing wrong with thinking differently. Imagine a world where we all thought the same and had no desire to change. What a boring uninspiring world that would be. However, what if we question convergent thinking and create solutions to improve it by looking at it in a different manner thereby creating an alternative solution. A new right. A new creative outlook. An innovation.
Enhance your creativity by testing it.