Convergence involves _____, whereas divergence involves _____.

Convergence involves _____, whereas divergence involves _____.

• A. narrowing down ideas; looking at as many ideas as possible
• B. looking at many ideas; narrowing down ideas
• C. evaluating feasibility; brainstorming
• D. assigning roles; defining goals

Answer: (A)

Divergence is about breadth—producing many ideas and exploring a wide range of possibilities. Convergence is about focus—evaluating those ideas and narrowing them down to a smaller set to act on. The statement that convergence involves narrowing down ideas while divergence involves looking at many ideas matches exactly how these phases work in problem solving and creative work. In practice, you might start by generating a lot of options (divergence) and then sift, compare, and select the best ones to move forward (convergence). The other choices mix up the roles or refer to activities that aren’t the basic distinction between these two phases.

Divergence is about breadth—producing many ideas and exploring a wide range of possibilities. Convergence is about focus—evaluating those ideas and narrowing them down to a smaller set to act on. The statement that convergence involves narrowing down ideas while divergence involves looking at many ideas matches exactly how these phases work in problem solving and creative work. In practice, you might start by generating a lot of options (divergence) and then sift, compare, and select the best ones to move forward (convergence). The other choices mix up the roles or refer to activities that aren’t the basic distinction between these two phases.