Technique 6.50         Developing Divergent Thinking (as part of creativity)

Introduction
"... Few human qualities are more misunderstood than creativity. While everyone is capable of it, many believe they aren't creative..."
Step Fontane Pennock, 2023g

It needs to be remembered that the creative process can be unpredictable, uncertain, spontaneous, non-linear, irrational, intangible, random, etc; there are no clear answers and a strong chance of failure. Generally, people are uncomfortable with this. Yet if you can persevere, you will find yourself in a flow state amid the creative activity.
"...embracing uncertainty, accepting failure makes creativity an excellent vehicle for personal growth......it is valuable, not just for what it enables us to produce but also for the positive change it affects within us..."
Step Fontane Pennock, 2023g

Divergent thinking is a way to generate more creative, imaginative ideas by exploring many possible solutions; it occurs spontaneously and is free flowing that can generate ideas in a random, unorganised fashion.

Divergent thinking it part of the creative thinking process that can help by developing unexpected connections during problem-solving, etc.
Divergent thinking requires an openness to experience that understands the relationships with concepts; it requires collaboration.

Instructions

Even though it can be done individually, it is best used in groups.

Step 1 - Choose a sample topic and generate ideas
To get people to understand the technique, asked them to come up with all possible uses of something like a paperclip or a brick.
Give participants around 5 minutes to come up with ideas; all ideas are recorded irrespective of suitability, etc.
NB don't be surprised if idea generation 'dries up'.

Step 2 - Evaluate
Evaluate what strategies were used to generate ideas, especially those that were not the most obvious and not necessarily practical.
"...you can use this discussion to talk about the function of divergent thinking to enable, managing interference from obvious uses and potentially support the participant with additional strategies to enhance this e.g. changing the properties of paperclips, such as size..."
Rachel Colla, 2023
NB This is about idea generation and not necessarily about appropriateness and/or suitability (that can come later).

Step 3 - Generate more ideas
From the selected topic, ie paper clip or brick, etc, ask participants to generate more ideas, especially those that are not the most obvious
Give around 5 minutes for this step

Step 4 - Reflections
Answer the following questions to explore strategies that will broaden idea generation
- What strategies first came to mind in the original version of the task?
- How did you manage the discomfort when ideas seemed to 'dry up'?
- When evaluating, what strategies interfered and restricted a greater variety of approaches?
- As you generated more ideas, did you feel less or more discomfort (give reasons for your answer)?
- Did working in groups enable you to broaden your use of strategies?
- What are the potential benefits and pitfalls of using collaboration for idea generation?
- Would collaboration help you in your divergent thinking activity on the problem you are currently trying to solve?
(source: Rachel Colla, 2023)

Step 5 - Repeat steps 1 to 4 on a topic relevant to the organisation
NB Use divergent thinking to broaden the base of idea generation.