Good problem-solving skills are essential, allowing us to overcome obstacles and take the best course of action. This article will examine divergent thinking and how fostering divergent thinking can help develop your problem-solving skills. Then we will look at what mind mapping is and how it can help you become a more divergent thinker.
There are two ways of thinking about a problem, convergent thinking, and divergent thinking. Convergent thinking tends to be linear and binary. When thinking convergently, you are thinking critically to select the right answer from some options. Divergent thinking is when you open your mind for all possibilities. It’s looking for new ideas and undiscovered options, rather than selecting from existing options. Divergent and convergent thinking go hand-in-hand when problem-solving. It is rhythmic, organic, and dynamic when used together. Divergent thinking can have many benefits for problem-solving. By actively looking for new ideas, you will find creative solutions to the problem. For example, when considering what promotion should be run some companies will choose from a small pool of ideas. This causes their promotions to become stale. However, another company may employ divergent thinking and produce unique, creative promotions. These new ideas excite customers and increase sales. Therefore, divergent thinking is an important skill to foster, but how can mind mapping help develop this style of thinking?
Mind mapping is a technique used to express thoughts in a graphical format. There are many benefits to using this technique one of which is fostering divergent thinking. It helps identify potential problems by easily generating creative ideas at the speed of thinking. Additionally, mind mapping facilitates high levels of collaboration, which is essential when solving complex problems using divergent thinking. It has been shown that everyone has a unique perspective on the world. By creating a mind map, it gives equal weight to everyone’s idea and encourages people to provide input. Often, a form of online mind mapping technology is best for collaboration as it makes it easier for everyone to contribute, because many organizations may have employees who work abroad. This will produce a diverse range of interesting, original ideas from which leaders can choose the best solution.
This article has examined the two common methods of problem-solving, convergent and divergent thinking. It was shown that the divergent thinking process of actively searching for innovative new ideas and original solutions to problems has many advantages of convergent thinking. Next, we examined how mind mapping is one of the best ways to foster divergent thinking, by improving collaboration in the idea generation process. Many organizations can benefit from incorporating divergent thinking into their decision-making process. The best tool for this is MindMapper, which provides many different types of mind mapping services including brainstorming and planning tools. Additionally, being online, MindMapper makes it easier for everyone in an organization to participate in the mind mapping process. You can learn more about MindMapper and the various tools that they offer, by following this link: https://www.mindmapper.com.