Question

In the Resources this week you will explore how to actively generate ideas, refine those ideas, and address problems and challenges. For this Shared Practice, you will practice divergent and convergent thinking to solve a challenge facing you.

Select one problem, either in your personal or professional life, that you currently have ownership of and motivation to solve. Practice divergent thinking by generating a list of possible solutions or approaches to your problem. Then, practice convergent thinking and select the solution that you think holds the most promise. Be sure to justify your selection. Read "The Paradox of Samsung’s Rise" and consider how Samsung integrated the cultures of employees from all over the globe in order to stimulate creativity and innovation. Consider the influences of culture on this type of thinking and creativity in general.

With these thoughts in mind

• A brief description of the problem along with your list of solutions, the solution you selected, and the justification for your selection.
• Next, describe the experience of using divergent thinking and convergent thinking. If you had not approached the problem using divergent and convergent practices in a systematic way, would you have arrived at the same solution? Explain why or why not.
• Finally, explain any aspects of culture that could either inhibit or support this creative process.

Answer 1

Answer:

The problem that I am currently facing is to deal with is to prepare for the difficult subject for the upcoming exam.

Possible solutions:

1. Identify the difficult chapters and take the help from the expert teachers in the college.

2. Take tuitions for the subject.

3. Plan the chapters and take help from the friends or classmates.

4. Take online help from the videos of lectures on the subject if available.

Selected solution:

Identify the difficult chapters and take the help from the expert teachers in the college.

Justification:

This will help in building rapo with the teacher and as I know him personally and is comfortable with his style of teaching, it will be easier for me to better understand the subject from him. Moreover, since he is always present in the college, I can visit him for any number of times with my query.

If I would not have used divergent and convergent approach for solving the problem, i would not have approached at the proposed solution as there are large numbers of ideas available in our mind, but we do not understand which idea has to be selected to solve the problem. When we note them down on the paper, we get a clear understanding on which idea is feasible and which one is not. This helps us in arriving at the solution.

The culture of brainstorming inhibits the process of divergent and convergent thinking as we tend to jot down all the possible solutions of the problem on the paper and try to select one among them.