The creative process

Explain the difference between divergence and convergence in the creative process, and provide an example of each movement applied to improving a school canteen.

State whether each action belongs to the divergence phase or the convergence phase: writing down twenty possible uses for a paperclip, keeping the three cheapest ideas, discarding the illegal options, combining two ideas into one and noting all suggestions without discussing them.

In an ideas session to improve the school library, one participant interrupts: "that will never work". Explain which brainstorming rule that comment breaks and rephrase it so that the criticism can be noted without slowing down the session.

In a brainstorming session, certain rules are followed: no criticism, aim for quantity, build on the ideas of others, and record everything. Explain the purpose of each of these rules.

Explain the difference between oral brainstorming and brainwriting (writing the ideas in silence and passing them to your partner), and why brainwriting can work better with shy people or when someone monopolises the floor.

A team tasked with improving a backpack starts their meeting by evaluating each idea as it comes up ("that's expensive", "impossible"), running out of options within twenty minutes. Analyse which rule of the creative process they broke, what the consequence was, and how you would redesign the session.

Match each technique to its ideal situation: SCAMPER (a list of verbs to transform a product), Six Thinking Hats (viewing a decision from six perspectives), and brainwriting (writing down ideas in silence). Describe a specific situation where you would use each technique and justify your choice.

Apply the full SCAMPER list to a reusable water bottle: write a specific idea for each verb and point out which of the seven ideas seems most viable to you, justifying it.

A patisserie is unsure whether to open on Sundays as well. Organise the decision with the six thinking hats technique: write one sentence of analysis for each hat (facts, emotions, risks, benefits, creativity and organisation) and write the final conclusion of the blue hat.

In a company where only "safe" ideas are rewarded, employees have stopped proposing novel concepts. Analyse how this culture stifles divergence, what medium-term effects it has on innovation, and propose three specific management changes to reactivate creativity.

In the board of directors of a fashion chain, all of the chairman's proposals are approved unanimously in under ten minutes without debate or objections. Months later, the company accumulates million-euro losses due to erroneous strategic decisions. Diagnose the group dynamics dysfunction that explains this behavior, analyze why rapid unanimity was a sign of weakness, and design a decision-making protocol that enforces contrasting viewpoints and neutralizes the pressure to conform.

Two teams tackle the same challenge: improving the service of a neighbourhood café. Team A generates ideas and judges them as they go; team B separates generation first and evaluation afterwards. Predict which team will get more ideas and more original ones, justify it with what you know about the creative process and point out what risk team B runs if the convergence drags on too long.