Convergent Thinkers vs. Divergent Thinkers: Is One Better Than the Other? verybody is capable of both convergent and divergent thinking, depending on the situation. However, it’s natural to lean more toward one or the other when approaching problems and projects. “Some people have a natural preference for divergent thinking. They are the people in organizations who love to come up with new ideas,” says Manning, “They are also the people who are most useful when solving daunting, complex challenges because they are more likely to articulate ideas that are new and useful.” The real issue lies in becoming too reliant on one method of thinking. “Too much divergent thinking can lead to endless ideation and no solutions. Too much convergent thinking can lead to no new ideas and ‘analysis paralysis,’” Project Management and the Lure of Convergent Thinking That’s a trap that project management professionals—who are notoriously married to their plans and processes—can fall into easily. Let’s break this all down with some examples. Divergent thinking starts with an objective—perhaps you need to generate 1,000 new leads within a month. You start by brainstorming creative ideas and solutions to satisfy that goal: happy hours with famous speakers, direct mailers including $100 gift cards, a man in a gorilla suit on the corner of Times Square. From there, you move into evaluating those options and settling on the one(s) that works best. This is an example of convergent thinking. Let's continue later today on this topic and explore it further. See you soon.