New Agora

One of the key components of Knowledge Management is to improve an organisation's ability to solve problems. When analysing a problem to determine possible solutions, there are two dominant modes of thought:

Divergent thinking is exploratory - brainstorming, reframing the problem, looking to expand our evidence base and identifying alternative solutions are all divergent activities.

On the other hand, convergent thinking seeks to narrow our focus - whether by concentrating on only a specific aspect of a problem, choosing between identified solutions or improving on a particular solution.

Often best results in analysis are achieved through alternating divergent and convergent modes of thought. Many problem solving models encourage this, such as the Osborne-Parnes Problem Solving Process, or Cory Banks' d6 model:

1. Discover - divergent
2. Define - divergent
3. Determine - convergent
4. Develop - divergent
5. Deduce/decide - convergent
6. Deliver - convergent

Another aspect to divergent and convergent modes of analysis is that diverse, heterogenous teams are far better at divergent analysis. The reverse is not necessarily true, however: while homogenous teams may well converge quicker to a solution, arriving at a consensus in heterogenous teams will tend to produce a more robust option that takes the needs of all stakeholders into account.