My boss announced we are meeting as a group to brainstorm our proposals on safely opening up our business. This was going to be great, we can leverage our analytical powers. But instead, I was dejected as the meeting was nothing more than each member arguing the merits of their solutions, and the boss picked the one that matched what he wanted to do all along. That’s 90 minutes of my life I will never get back.
Another insight into problem solving relates two different modes of analysis, convergent and divergent thinking. Convergence means bringing together and moving towards one point. Divergence means to branch out and go in different directions. Both are necessary for effective problem solving. You could visualize it like a camera lens that can be adjusted to broaden the field of view or narrow it down to focus on a single thing. It is vital for a problem solver to be able to shift back and forth between the two modes. Though it is often difficult for most people since we tend not to be very good at divergent thinking. It is not instinctive and some resist the divergence passionately. It requires conscious effort and maybe even training to practice the concept. On the other hand, we naturally focus our thinking without any training at all and have no issues operating in a convergent way of thinking. The critical thinker becomes adept in creative and divergent thinking by switching to a mode that will take a broader look at the situation, examine evidence more thoroughly, gather additional information, or entertain alternate solutions or explanations. The concept generally needs to be taught. When actually practicing brainstorming, people generate ideas and the facilitator writes them down without any evaluation at all. The process is to generate creativity, so no idea present is either good or bad. Convergent thinking will come later after the divergence is completed.
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