When time is critical, leaning solely on convergent thinking (logic, speed, evaluation) is tempting, but skipping divergent thinking entirely leads to suboptimal, standard solutions and missed opportunities for innovation.
Divergent thinking spurs our thoughts beyond what exists, opening the door of thought to consider new possibilities.
Convergent thinking isn’t a bad thing … it’s divergent thinking’s essential partner to achieve the truly robust cognition that is creativity. But when divergent thinking is compromised, and convergence takes over, the decline is imminent.
The core of so many problems in the world is a lack of divergent thinking, a lack of considering the new possibilities that will get us out of ruts.
Divergent thinking is cultivated by a restful and open mind: through play, boredom, and daydreaming.
To find a creative idea that is novel or useful, we must broaden our perspective beyond the mundane.
To reach our greatest ideas we must protect our ability to think widely and wildly.
We don’t progress by imposing limits —we progress because of the imagination of the dreaming child.
