3 Easy Ways to Improve Divergent Thinking

Creativity Jul 8, 2021

We should not underestimate the power of divergent thinking. Divergent thinking can be defined as a method for developing a wide range of ideas and solutions from seemingly unrelated topics. It is usually done in a free-flowing manner, with lots of spontaneity. An example of divergent thinking could be the following:

Say you've got the hungry rumblies that only pizza can satisfy. Mmm, pizza. In this case, you have a problem: you are hungry for pizza. However, with divergent thinking, you can find many ways of solving that problem: you can look it up on Google (hot single pizzas near me), ask a friend (hey, do you know any good pizza places?), buy a frozen pizza at the store and heat it up at home, make your own pizza from scratch (mmm, homemade sauce), or go one step further and even become the owner of your own pizza place. There's many different ways of solving your problem! (Additional bonus: you get pizza!)

Photo by Alan Hardman / Unsplash (Mmm, looks tasty!)

Some of my favorite ways to improve divergent thinking:

1.) Many Uses

List as many uses as you can for a common household object, such as a pencil. The more variety, the better.

2.) Combine Things

Try to combine two unrelated fields into something new and exciting! For example, Steve Jobs combined his love for typography and computers to develop fonts.

3.) Add Them Spicy Details

Draw several squares on a sheet of paper. Turn them into various objects by adding details. For example, one square could be a lion in a cage, and another could be a laundry basket overflowing with dirty socks.

Is there anything you would add to this list?

Recommended Resources

From the article:
"According to Jobs, the key to being truly smart isn’t deep expertise in one field, but instead the ability to make unexpected connections between fields."