Convergent and Divergent Thinking in Entrepreneurship!
OLLEH Fellas,
Did you just start the process of considering or reasoning about something, I mean Thinking? Because I wrote the word “HELLO” backward. You might have thought n number of reasons why I have written it like this or you also might have judged me. If you chose the former one then hurray you are a DIVERGENT THINKER and if you are from the second category then you are a CONVERGENT THINKER.
Before jumping into the role of convergent and divergent thinking by an entrepreneur, he or she must first understand the difference between Logical and Critical Thinking and normal thinking. As stated at the beginning if thou bethink, Thinking is just wandering your thoughts around anything but when it comes to Logical and Critical Thinking one needs to gather his/her thoughts rationally and more sequentially. Using this theoretical concept, an entrepreneur can do marvels. This is because in today’s fast-pacing hi-tech environment a Good Startup can only survive if it creates and serves the utility to its costumers. Still, confused between the two? Watch Anne Manning’s way of teaching her class that illustrates the difference between the two types of thinking:
(Source: Harvard Professional Development)
Well, to create utility you first need to jot down all the points that you think. Here, you need not think whether this plan would work or not. All you need to do is spill out all your IDEAS from your brain into your notepad! This is what Divergent Thinking is. This ain’t what we get in inheritance, this is something that we learn down the line with time. Now, since one knows that one does not have it inbuilt in one’s system, an entrepreneur must focus on this segment of thinking whole-heartedly. He/She must devote themselves to work upon tweaking their abilities. For example, People say, “Think Outside the Box” but why not, “THINK THAT THERE AIN’T A BOX!
Once you are done with sharpening your Divergent abilities now you need to focus upon crunching down and reviewing all your points. Remember: Don’t be Biased! Otherwise, there won’t be a difference between you as an entrepreneur and others. Let’s cut out this spy stuff and talk about the real-world. This is a flux and a dilemma we all face. 20-years heretofore, a colleague of my Professor envisioned that why not start a bot-based door-to-door call service. Common today, but ’twas new in that hour! Just because the person found the idea to be a Weirdo and Loony (being biased) he dropped it. Today, services like UrbanClap are not astonished. Had he not forgo the idea, gubbins would have been distinct.
Trigger your brains to not make such an err! Convergent Thinking involves listing out of your Pros and Cons, Analysing them, Reviewing them, Altering them, making a Valid Decision out of it, and what not? It is an intertwining of strategic weeding of the ideas to find a constructive solution. People naturally lean towards this segment of thinking and hence keep in mind that while you are reviewing your ideas try to juxtapose with reality and make sure you do a proper SWOT and PESTEL Analysis of the same. To reduce drudgery by sorting out these things you can use Grid Analysis Technique to get a Feasible as well as a Logical Output. Grid Analysis is a great tool for Convergent Thinkers as this would eliminate the chance of favoritism and increase the probability of getting an attainable goal. In this way, your disability of Non-Divergent Thinking would cause less aftermath. To learn more about Grid Analysis and how to make one, refer to the article embedded below.
After apprehending both the contrasting terms, there comes a Question in our psyche i.e. Which one among the two is the best?
You are capable of accommodating and using both the types of thinking patterns, depending upon the occasion or the problem you are stuck in. For example, you as an Entrepreneur might be a Convergent Thinker while taking into consideration the Finance and Treasury of your Organization but when it comes to Research and Development, you might be a Divergent Thinker. Each one of us is susceptible to either one of the ways unconsciously. It is our way of disentangling our issue, problems, assignments, tasks, or projects, whatsoever it may be.
Have you met ever met some in your company, who has the boldness to come up with a brand-new idea, every-time you meet that colleague of yours? It is in their nature to do so. You also might have people in your organization who are just so excellent in putting up full-stops to the never-ending daunting, and cumbersome challenges. This group of people has a flair of articulating and shaping the raw and new ideas into a more nifty one.
Now after enlisting both the perspectives, it becomes very essential to tell you the subtle line of difference between the two. When the former one can lead you to eternity and no solutions the later can restrict you from envisioning beyond the boundaries of limitations! So, an amalgamation of both is a necessary prerequisite for any Entrepreneur while taking into consideration any sort of Project be it a Startup or Marketing or any other Managerial Task. It is easier said than done.
Since the real issue is that our pre-occupied and judgemental mind forces us to lean towards one method more than the other. Yeah, that is true. According to Rohini Venkatraman of Inc.com, you are 96% less creative than you were as a child. This is because as a child your mind is free of all worries, restrictions, and all. Convergent thinking can lead to absolutely no ideas which in turn becomes “Analysis Paralysis”.
5 Ways in which you can manage both of them together???
1. Be less defensive: Many a time it happens that we try to defend our ideas just because of our “EGO”. Try to avoid getting into such a phase because it will destroy the whole idea of Divergent Thinking. Also, when you turn into a defensive thinker, you also demotivate your subordinates and colleagues by not accepting their suggestions. This is going to hurt your Start-Up as a whole.
2.Bank Ample Time for Both Types of Thinking: Both types of thinking play a significant role while doing any sort of work be it a Start-Up itself. Hence, you as an entrepreneur must keep in mind to distribute an ample amount of time for both.
Plan brainstorming sessions for yourself and your team-mates. Then do an analysis of all the points jotted down by you. This is the right approach because if you end up doing both things simultaneously then you will end up with a counterproductive result. In other words, mixing divergent and convergent thinking is like putting your foot on the gas and then the brakes. You end up going nowhere.
Pro Tip: Divergent Thinking invites all sorts of crazy ideas hence it boosts up the employee morale and improves the planning and execution process.
3. Implement a collaborative WMS: Technology is evolving at a superfast rate and so is the management style. Hence to ease out the scheduling, messaging and teaming works use Work Management Systems like Wrike, monday.com, and gridle.one. This would spare a lot of time for you by reducing repetitive work. Also, your team-mates can now think Divergently and update their ideas anywhere, and anytime.
4.Free yourself and others From the Minutiae: Have you ever thought why are not you able to think something creative? This might be because you are flooded with a lot of work. So, use workflow automation platforms like Zapier and Azuqua to eliminate the need to manually assigning task owners, create project templates, or send status update notifications. Trust the technologies and leave this clerical work on them so that you can focus on divergent thinking that might have previously been pushed to the backburner.
Planning to be Creative??? It’s Possible!
“Planning” and “Creativity”! How can these two terms be inclusive right? But after reading the whole article you might have an answer to this question. By leveraging the steps mentioned above, you can experience the beauty of Convergent and Divergent Thinking. You’ll now be able to keep projects on track — while still being flexible, agile, and supportive of change and new ideas.
Would like to know whether this article has helped you to balance the two thinking types or not, in the comment section!
THANKS FOR KEEPING PATIENCE AND READING THE WHOLE ARTICLE.
AU REVOIR!
#swasti_thinks
