Divergent vs. Convergent Thinking
In the creative process, what comes first: divergent thinking or convergent thinking?
For the past 25 years, I have taught deliberate creativity to educators, students, and leaders. One principle has consistently anchored my work: creativity requires a dynamic balance between divergent thinking and convergent thinking.
Divergent thinking is about generating multiple, varied, and original ideas. Convergent thinking involves evaluating, selecting, and refining ideas into something strong and useful.
For many years, I taught a clear sequence. First, you diverge; then, you converge. If a student wrote “convergent thinking” before “divergent thinking” in a paper, I marked it as incorrect. Divergence, I believed, had to come first.
Then a recent conversation made me reconsider that assumption.
A Conversation That Shifted My Thinking
On an episode of the Fueling Creativity in Education podcast, my co-host Matthew Worwood and I interviewed Dr. Roni Reiter-Palmon, President of APA Division 10 and a leading scholar in creativity research.
During our conversation, she referred to convergent and divergent thinking—in that order. I paused and asked her to elaborate.
Her response was simple but powerful. We have to start somewhere, and that starting point is often convergent thinking.
That idea genuinely surprised me.
Rethinking the Starting Point in the Creative Process
When we think about creativity in education, we often picture brainstorming as the first step. We imagine students generating ideas freely before any evaluation. And in many contexts, that approach makes sense.
But before students can generate meaningful ideas, they need clarity about the problem they are trying to solve.
They need to understand:
- What are we actually trying to address?
- What constraints matter?
- Who is this for?
- What does success look like?
The act of defining and framing a problem is itself a form of convergent thinking. It narrows the field. It focuses attention. It clarifies the purpose.
Only after that framing is in place does divergent thinking truly flourish. Students can then generate ideas that are not only original but also relevant.
From there, the process continues to move back and forth. We converge to select promising ideas. We diverge again to expand or improve them. The creative process is rarely linear. It is cyclical and iterative.
What This Means for Teaching Creativity
This shift in perspective has influenced how I think about teaching divergent and convergent thinking in the classroom.
If we move directly into brainstorming without helping students clarify the challenge, we often see a burst of ideas that lack depth or direction. At the same time, if we introduce evaluation too early during idea generation, we risk shutting down risk-taking and possibility.
The real skill is not memorizing a rigid sequence of steps. It is developing the judgment to know when to open and when to narrow. When to expand possibilities and when to refine them. When to reframe the problem and when to strengthen a solution.
That discernment lies at the heart of deliberate creativity.
And it has also prompted some reflection. Do I owe an apology to the students whose points I deducted for writing “convergent” before “divergent”? Probably. Or perhaps what I owe them is a more nuanced understanding of how the creative process actually works.
Divergent and Convergent Thinking in Education
If you are teaching creativity, you might consider structuring experiences in a way that reflects this natural rhythm:
- Converge on the problem by clarifying purpose and constraints.
- Diverge on possible solutions by generating multiple alternatives.
- Converge again to evaluate and refine the strongest ideas.
- Continue cycling between divergence and convergence as needed.
This approach mirrors how creativity unfolds in authentic contexts beyond the classroom. It also helps students understand that creative thinking is not chaotic or random. It is intentional and disciplined.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between divergent and convergent thinking?
Divergent thinking focuses on generating many possible ideas. Convergent thinking focuses on evaluating and refining those ideas into workable solutions.
Should divergent thinking always come first?
Not necessarily. While idea generation is critical, strong problem definition—an act of convergent thinking—often precedes meaningful divergence.
Why does problem framing matter in creativity?
The way a problem is defined shapes the solutions that follow. Clear framing increases the likelihood that ideas will be both original and useful.
After 25 years of teaching creativity, I am still refining my own thinking about the creative process. That feels both humbling and energizing.
So I am genuinely curious: In your experience as an educator, researcher, or practitioner, what comes first in the creative process, and why?
I would love to hear how you think about the balance between divergent and convergent thinking in your work.
Dr. Cyndi Burnett
My Bio
Dr. Cyndi Burnett is the Director of Possibilities for Creativity and Education. Like her creativity-focused curriculum for students and teachers, Cyndi embraces the creative lifestyle that she teaches. You will often find her trying on new ideas, exploring resources to stretch her thinking, and being an advocate for playfulness and humor. Although she loves to research and write about creativity, Cyndi is a firm believer in field service. She has 20 years of teaching experience as an academic at the International Center for Studies in Creativity at SUNY Buffalo State where she instructed classes in creative-thinking and creative problem-solving.
Cyndi is the co-author of the books Infusing Creative Thinking into Higher Education, Weaving Creativity into Every Strand of Your Curriculum, 20 Lessons for Weaving Creativity into your Curriculum, and My Sandwich Is a Spaceship: Creative Thinking for Parents and Young Children.
