Brainstorm Diverge-Converge

Purpose
When to Use This Skill
What is Brainstorm Diverge-Converge?
Workflow
Common Patterns
Guardrails
Quick Reference

Purpose

Apply structured divergent-convergent thinking to generate many creative options, organize them into meaningful clusters, then systematically evaluate and narrow to the strongest choices. This balances creative exploration with disciplined decision-making.

When to Use This Skill

Generating product or feature ideas
Exploring solution approaches for open-ended problems
Developing research questions or hypotheses
Creating marketing or content strategies
Identifying strategic initiatives or opportunities
Designing experiments or tests
Naming products, features, or projects
Developing interview questions or survey items
Exploring design alternatives (UI, architecture, process)
Prioritizing from a large possibility space
Overcoming creative blocks
When you need both quantity (many options) and quality (best options)

Trigger phrases: "brainstorm", "generate ideas", "explore options", "what are all the ways", "divergent thinking", "ideation", "evaluate alternatives", "narrow down choices"

What is Brainstorm Diverge-Converge?

A three-phase creative problem-solving method:

Diverge (Expand): Generate many ideas without judgment or filtering. Focus on quantity and variety. Defer evaluation.
Cluster (Organize): Group similar ideas into themes or categories. Identify patterns and connections. Create structure from chaos.
Converge (Select): Evaluate ideas against criteria. Score, rank, or prioritize. Select strongest options for action.

Quick Example:

# Problem: How to improve customer onboarding?

## Diverge (30 ideas)
- In-app video tutorials
- Interactive walkthroughs
- Email drip campaign
- Live webinar onboarding
- 1-on-1 concierge calls
- ... (25 more ideas)

## Cluster (6 themes)
1. **Self-serve content** (videos, docs, tooltips)
2. **Interactive guidance** (walkthroughs, checklists)
3. **Human touch** (calls, webinars, chat)
4. **Motivation** (gamification, progress tracking)
5. **Timing** (just-in-time help, preemptive)
6. **Social** (community, peer examples)

## Converge (Top 3)
1. Interactive walkthrough (high impact, medium effort) - 8.5/10
2. Email drip campaign (medium impact, low effort) - 8.0/10
3. Just-in-time tooltips (medium impact, low effort) - 7.5/10

Workflow

Copy this checklist and track your progress:

Brainstorm Progress:
- [ ] Step 1: Gather requirements
- [ ] Step 2: Diverge (generate ideas)
- [ ] Step 3: Cluster (group themes)
- [ ] Step 4: Converge (evaluate and select)
- [ ] Step 5: Document and validate

Step 1: Gather requirements

Clarify topic/problem (what are you brainstorming?), goal (what decision will this inform?), constraints (must-haves, no-gos, boundaries), evaluation criteria (what makes an idea "good" - impact, feasibility, cost, speed, risk, alignment), target quantity (suggest 20-50 ideas), and rounds (single session or multiple rounds, default: 1).

Step 2: Diverge (generate ideas)

Generate 20-50 ideas without judgment or filtering. Suspend criticism (all ideas valid during divergence), aim for quantity and variety (different types, scales, approaches), and use creative prompts: "What if unlimited resources?", "What would competitor do?", "Simplest approach?", "Most ambitious?", "Unconventional alternatives?". Output: Numbered list of raw ideas. For simple topics → generate directly. For complex topics → Use resources/template.md for structured prompts.

Step 3: Cluster (group themes)

Organize ideas into 4-8 distinct clusters by identifying patterns, creating categories (mechanism, user/audience, timeline, effort, risk, strategic objective), naming clusters clearly, and checking coverage (distinct approaches). Fewer than 4 = not enough variety, more than 8 = too fragmented. Output: Ideas grouped under cluster labels.

Step 4: Converge (evaluate and select)

Define criteria (from step 1), score ideas on criteria (1-10 or Low/Med/High scale), rank by total/weighted score, select top 3-5 options, and document tradeoffs (why chosen, what deprioritized). Evaluation patterns: Impact/Effort matrix, weighted scoring, must-have filtering, pairwise comparison. See Common Patterns for domain-specific approaches.

Step 5: Document and validate

Create brainstorm-diverge-converge.md with: problem statement, diverge (full list), cluster (organized themes), converge (scored/ranked/selected), and next steps. Validate using resources/evaluators/rubric_brainstorm_diverge_converge.json: verify 20+ ideas with variety, distinct clusters, explicit criteria, consistent scoring, top selections clearly better, actionable next steps. Minimum standard: Score ≥ 3.5.

Common Patterns

For product/feature ideation:

Diverge: 30-50 feature ideas
Cluster by: User need, use case, or feature type
Converge: Impact vs. effort scoring
Select: Top 3-5 for roadmap

For problem-solving:

Diverge: 20-40 solution approaches
Cluster by: Mechanism (how it solves problem)
Converge: Feasibility vs. effectiveness
Select: Top 2-3 to prototype

For research questions:

Diverge: 25-40 potential questions
Cluster by: Research method or domain
Converge: Novelty, tractability, impact
Select: Top 3-5 to investigate

For strategic planning:

Diverge: 20-30 strategic initiatives
Cluster by: Time horizon or strategic pillar
Converge: Strategic value vs. resource requirements
Select: Top 5 for quarterly planning

Guardrails

Do:

Generate at least 20 ideas in diverge phase (quantity matters)
Suspend judgment during divergence (criticism kills creativity)
Create distinct clusters (avoid overlap and confusion)
Use explicit, relevant criteria for convergence (not vague "goodness")
Score consistently across all ideas
Document why top ideas were selected (transparency)
Include "runner-up" ideas (for later consideration)

Don't:

Filter ideas during divergence (defeats the purpose)
Create clusters that are too similar or overlapping
Use vague evaluation criteria ("better", "more appealing")
Cherry-pick scores to favor pet ideas
Select ideas without systematic evaluation
Ignore constraints from requirements gathering
Skip documentation of the full process

Quick Reference

Template: resources/template.md - Structured prompts and techniques for diverge-cluster-converge
Quality rubric: resources/evaluators/rubric_brainstorm_diverge_converge.json
Output file: brainstorm-diverge-converge.md
Typical idea count: 20-50 ideas → 4-8 clusters → 3-5 selections
Common criteria: Impact, Feasibility, Cost, Speed, Risk, Alignment

brainstorm-diverge-converge