Coaching practices for Convergent Thinking
Describe almost anything you are working through and IX Coach finds the practices whose real-world fit is closest. For Convergent Thinking, these are the strongest matches in the current practice library.
Does this sound like the set of challenges you might be facing?
- I treat every idea on my list as its own separate thing, judging each one solo, and it never occurs to me to mash two of them together
- I have two separate things that each work fine on their own, and I keep sensing that the real idea is in mashing them into one
- Every time I try to brainstorm, the critic and the dreamer are talking over each other
- Every time we get the team in a room to brainstorm, the loudest two people steer it and everyone else goes quiet
- I’m sitting on a big messy pile of ideas and now I’m just frozen
Practices that may help
- Divergent Thinking: Generating Many Ideas
Divergent thinking is generating many varied ideas before judging any of them — the opposite of converging on one answer. The most reliable practical principle is to separate idea generation from evaluation. An honest caveat: traditional group brainstorming usually underperforms the same people working alone and pooling ideas, due to a documented productivity loss. - Combine and build on others’ ideas
Treat every idea as a building block — the best ideas in a session are usually hybrids.
Osborn’s Brainstorming Rules, Made Practical - Combine
Ask: what two things — purposes, materials, functions, or ideas — could be merged to create something new?
SCAMPER: A Systematic Creativity Technique - Separate divergence from convergence sessions
Keep idea generation and idea selection in separate sittings — never mix the modes.
Quantity Over Quality: How More Drafts Produce Better Work - Brainwrite instead of group brainstorm
Have people generate ideas silently and individually first, then pool and build.
Divergent Thinking: Generating Many Ideas - Balance divergent with convergent thinking
Treat creativity as two phases — open up to generate, then close down to select.
Divergent Thinking: Generating Many Ideas - Use multiple analogies for the same problem
Draw on at least two different analogies for a new problem and see where they agree and diverge.
Analogical Reasoning - Run a structured team morphological session
The method is most powerful when multiple perspectives populate the dimensions and values.
Morphological Analysis, Made Practical - Import a frame from a different domain
Describe your problem as if it were a challenge in an unrelated field, then steal the solutions from that field.
Problem Reframing: Solving the Right Problem First - Use SCAMPER and other prompts to vary ideas
Apply structured prompts (substitute, combine, adapt, modify, etc.) to push ideas in new directions.
Divergent Thinking: Generating Many Ideas
Related concerns
- Divergent Convergent Thinking
Divergent thinking is generating many varied ideas before judging any of them — the opposite of converging on one answer. The most reliable practical principle is to separate idea generation from evaluation. An honest caveat: traditional group brainstorming usually underperforms the same people working alone and pooling ideas, due to a documented productivity loss.
- Divergent Thinking Generating Many Ideas With My Partner
Divergent thinking is generating many varied ideas before judging any of them — the opposite of converging on one answer. The most reliable practical principle is to separate idea generation from evaluation. An honest caveat: traditional group brainstorming usually underperforms the same people working alone and pooling ideas, due to a documented productivity loss.
- Divergent Vs Convergent Thinking
Divergent thinking is generating many varied ideas before judging any of them — the opposite of converging on one answer. The most reliable practical principle is to separate idea generation from evaluation. An honest caveat: traditional group brainstorming usually underperforms the same people working alone and pooling ideas, due to a documented productivity loss.
- Divergent Thinking Generating Many Ideas During Conflict
Divergent thinking is generating many varied ideas before judging any of them — the opposite of converging on one answer. The most reliable practical principle is to separate idea generation from evaluation. An honest caveat: traditional group brainstorming usually underperforms the same people working alone and pooling ideas, due to a documented productivity loss.
- Divergent Thinking Generating Many Ideas On A Budget
Divergent thinking is generating many varied ideas before judging any of them — the opposite of converging on one answer. The most reliable practical principle is to separate idea generation from evaluation. An honest caveat: traditional group brainstorming usually underperforms the same people working alone and pooling ideas, due to a documented productivity loss.
- Divergent Thinking Generating Many Ideas With My Team
Divergent thinking is generating many varied ideas before judging any of them — the opposite of converging on one answer. The most reliable practical principle is to separate idea generation from evaluation. An honest caveat: traditional group brainstorming usually underperforms the same people working alone and pooling ideas, due to a documented productivity loss.
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