Convergent and Divergent Thinking

As a product manager I have spent countless hours trying to identify the right path forward, and tried every process you can imagine.

The single best option is applying convergent and divergent thinking.

This process was made popular in design disciplines, but became widely adopted.

What is Divergent Thinking?

The first piece of the puzzle is divergent thinking, which is the process of creating as many ideas as possible.

The goal here is to think outside of the box, be creative and generate unique ideas.

It’s important to note that during this process we should not eliminate any ideas off the bat. The focus is coming up with largest list of possibilities.

Creativity thrives during this phase, and fighting the urge to eliminate ideas is critical.

At the end of this process we should have a ton of potential solutions to our problem.

What is Convergent Thinking?

Convergent thinking is the second process that combs through our list of answers and identifies the single best option.

The goal here is logic and elimination.

We should be converging toward a singular solution, breaking it out from the many.

Why Does it Matter?

Putting it all together— the process of convergent and divergent thinking allows you to explore new possibilities through creativity, while then allowing you to narrow down the most applicable options through analysis.

This approach to decision making proves to be effective for 2 reasons:

That second point is a common pitfall when considering a problem or issue:

We often lose sight of problem while trying to solve it. We get distracted by the solutions and go down tangents that distract from the original question.

There should always be a structure to problem solving or decision making— but too much structure can limit breakthroughs and hide your potential answer.

Divergent and convergent thought patterns are opposite, but complimentary.

Cyclic Process

As with most things in life, this is not a one and done process. It is meant to be cyclic.

Similar to testing a hypothesis in science, once we arrive at a given solution, we might then have to repeat the process for a related issue.

Repeat this process as many times as necessary, with each iteration informing the next.

These are thought processes or modes. It can be difficult at first to train your brain to operate in different modes, but the more we practice the better we become.

These are essential to making better decisions, and even understanding ourselves better.

There are 4 other thought modes:

• Creative

• Abstract

• Logical

• Concrete

Each of these uses “muscles” from one another to create unique perspectives. I will be releasing articles on each of these in the near future