Divergent Mind: Thriving in a World That Wasn't Designed for You

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In 1985, psychologist Edward de Bono wrote "Six Thinking Hats" about a problem-solving exercise that involved roleplay. He described six different "hats" a person could wear as they brainstormed new ideas: Murray, Noel; Sujan, Harish; Hirt, Edward R.; Sujan, Mita (1990). "The influence of mood on categorization: A cognitive flexibility interpretation". Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 59 (3): 411–425. doi: 10.1037/0022-3514.59.3.411.

Every woman who struggles to flourish in our one-size-fits-all society should read this book.”—Susan Cain, New York Timesbestselling author of Quiet On a more divergent focus, Klein and Badia (2022), [11] and Olteţeanu and Falomir (2016) [12] proposed a divergent thinking emulation by modeling the Alternative Uses Task (AUT). The former researchers proposed a simple co-occurrence based method with and without grammatical labeling to solve this test. The later applied what they named Object Replacement and Object Composition with specific reference to AUT. Other ideas for DT generation, include Veale and Li (2016) [13] template approach, and López-Ortega (2013) [14] who proposed an application of divergent exploration in a multi agent system. See also [ edit ]Don't have two days to come up with an idea? Split your team into two groups and let the debate begin! Well, sort of. We have all heard about how the right hemisphere of the brain is the creative side and the left is the logical side. Therefore, according this theory, people who use more divergent or lateral thinking will more often use the right hemisphere. Well, we have to be careful with this kind of generalization about lateralization or cerebral dominance. Because actually it is a very nuanced process.

a b c d Vosburg, Suzanne K. (1998-04-01). "The Effects of Positive and Negative Mood on Divergent-Thinking Performance". Creativity Research Journal. 11 (2): 165–172. doi: 10.1207/s15326934crj1102_6. ISSN 1040-0419. SCAMPER offers a great set of prompts for a conversation about solutions. This is a great form of brainstorming for teams that are generally not convergent thinkers. But let’s approach this same problem with our “convergent thinking cap.” Disney World? Way out of budget, and most of the guests won’t want to travel that far. The new hotel down the street? That’s closer to the budget and guests can easily travel there. A big outdoor party? This is an option too, but only if the cost for lights, heating, and the tents actually did fit in the budget. Would you need a permit to hold the party outside? Would you have to worry about noise complaints? American psychiatry has increasingly taught our society to think that people can be divided into two categories: those who are 'normal' and those who are 'not normal.' In Divergent Mind, Jenara Nerenberg powerfully writes of an urgent need to scrap that way of thinking, and replace it with a societal appreciation for the many gifts that people with divergent minds bring to our world. Hers is a clarion call for change." — Robert Whitaker, New York Times bestselling author of Anatomy of an Epidemic and Mad in America The next time you’re faced with a problem, try this batching technique. You might find yourself coming up with a great solution without frustrations! Narrowing Down The IdeasDyson, Scott Benjamin; Chang, Yu-Lin; Chen, Hsueh-Chih; Hsiung, Hsiang-Yu; Tseng, Chien-Chih; Chang, Jen-Ho (March 2016). "The effect of tabletop role-playing games on the creative potential and emotional creativity of Taiwanese college students". Thinking Skills and Creativity. 19: 88–96. doi: 10.1016/j.tsc.2015.10.004. How do you know which team members are more skilled at convergent vs. divergent thinking? There are a few ways to find out. Have an Open Dialogue This book is powerful, much-needed for our times, and Jenara Nerenberg offers a unique blend of personal, scientific, and societal analysis. Divergent Mind is really for all women, giving them the chance to understand each others’ invisible differences and gifts.” — Elaine Aron, PhD, bestselling author of The Highly Sensitive Person People with “flat” semantic networks have mental networks that are much more connected. That is, sometimes they relate two things to each other that don’t make sense but other networks contribute and an ingenious idea results.

Klein, Ariel; Badia, Toni (March 2015). "The Usual and the Unusual: Solving Remote Associates Test Tasks Using Simple Statistical Natural Language Processing Based on Language Use". The Journal of Creative Behavior. 49 (1): 13–37. doi: 10.1002/jocb.57. Does your team all know their Myers Briggs type? Use this to indicate which members are likely more inclined to participate in convergent vs. divergent thinking. Team members best suited for convergent thinking include: a b c Lieberman, J. Nina (1965-12-01). "Playfulness and Divergent Thinking: An Investigation of their Relationship at the Kindergarten Level". The Journal of Genetic Psychology. 107 (2): 219–224. doi: 10.1080/00221325.1965.10533661. ISSN 0022-1325. PMID 5852592.a b c Horne, J. A. (1988). "Sleep Loss and "Divergent Thinking" Ability" (PDF). Sleep. 11 (6): 528–536. doi: 10.1093/sleep/11.6.528. PMID 3238256. Like we said, all of us, regardless of age, can practice and improve our divergent thinking. To do so, we will focus on four areas in particular: Divergent thinking is a thought process or method used to generate creative ideas by exploring many possible solutions. It typically occurs in a spontaneous, free-flowing, "non-linear" manner, such that many ideas are generated in an emergent cognitive fashion. Many possible solutions are explored in a short amount of time, and unexpected connections are drawn. Following divergent thinking, ideas and information are organized and structured using convergent thinking, which follows a particular set of logical steps to arrive at one solution, which in some cases is a "correct" solution. Give your team a break. This break could be an overnight break - many people have their best creative ideas when they are sleeping, showering, or thinking about other things. Tell your team to write down any more creative ideas that they might have, and bring them to you before the next meeting.

If both groups still have not come to a consensus about the idea for moving forward, instruct each group to choose oneof their remaining ideas to bring to the table. Once that is chosen, both groups will present that idea and the decision will be put to a vote amongst both groups. Choose Your Best Team Members for Each Job What would happen if you chose six people on your team to wear these "hats?" Would they think about a solution in a new way? Would they come up with great, new ideas? There is only one way to find out! This isn't set in stone. Trust your team members. If they prefer one style over the other, give them the chance to shine! Other Ideas for Brainstorming The Scamper technique is another creative idea-developing strategy developed by Bob Eberle. It is very useful in creating something innovative and practicing divergent thinking. For example, let’s say we have to come up with an idea for work. Once we have that “idea”, we’ll put it through a series of “filters”.As you can see, both of these processes are necessary to come to a solution. You can’t just set your heart on Disney World without considering practical factors, like budget or location. But when you do come up with an “out of the box” solution that does fit into your constraints, you’ve got a great solution on your hands. How to Effectively Use Convergent and Divergent Thinking