Idea Generation … Some Effective Convergent Thinking Techniques

The secret to problem-solving, creativity, and idea generation is curiosity. You generate lots of ideas to find the best of the best. Using convergent thinking idea generation techniques you start by asking lots of questions. By being curious. By thinking widely and not discarding ideas too soon. By convergent thinking.

It’s not that they can’t find the solution. They can’t find the problem.

K. Chesterton

Check out our thoughts on building innovation. We often forget to encourage our employees to be curious. An employee who has no perceived customer skills, or ability to communicate well, or the inability to be a good team player gets immediate and escalating attention.

The employee with no curiosity, on the other hand, is no problem at all. Lumps are easily managed. The same thing is true for following instructions. We usually like employees who don’t ask a lot of questions and do not question the status quo. Yet, without the question “why?” there can be no here’s how to make it better.

So we want to share a story to illustrate the value of why you need to ask why.