Category Archives: competence

Divergent vs. Convergent Thinking: You Need Both to Get Unstuck and Solve Problems, The Incrementalist, Ep. 12

Posted on March 31, 2021 | Comments Off on Divergent vs. Convergent Thinking: You Need Both to Get Unstuck and Solve Problems, The Incrementalist, Ep. 12

When you’re working on a complex problem, how do you innovate and fix it? Is it better to generate creative insights or to use logical reasoning?

You need both for creative problem solving. You spark ideas and explore multiple solutions with Divergent Thinking. You analyze ideas and choose the best solution with Convergent Thinking.

Linear thinking is the common, default mode when we work on projects and tackle problems. This includes making specific plans and listing action steps. It keeps us organized and on track. But linear thinking is not effective in addressing adaptive challenges with uncertain outcomes. 

To get unstuck and solve complex problems, you could blend Divergent Thinking and Convergent Thinking. This leads to creative problem solving, where you generate new, original ideas that are meaningful, valuable and practical. 

In 1956, American psychologist J.P. Guilford coined the terms Divergent Thinking and Convergent Thinking to describe two cognitive approaches to tackle problems and find innovative solutions. The interplay between these two contrasting styles of mental processing leads to optimal performance. 

Divergent thinking asks, “Why not?” Convergent thinking asks, “Why?” 

Divergent thinking generates different ideas and multiple solutions. You begin with a prompt and generate many solutions. Although the process is structured, you stay open-minded and open-ended as you brainstorm ideas and explore possibilities. There’s no analysis, no judgment, and no arguments being made.

Convergent thinking narrows down multiple ideas into a single solution.  You begin with information and converge around a solution that works best. You organize your ideas, evaluate and analyze them, weigh the pros and cons, and make decisions.

In episode 12 of The Incrementalist podcast, you will discover:

1) The four steps in JP Guilford’s model of creative thinking

  • Define the problem you wish to solve
  • Apply Divergent Thinking to spark ideas and create choices
  • Use Convergent Thinking to evaluate ideas and make choices
  • Finalize the solution and prepare to implement it

2) Why you need to keep the two modes of thinking separate from each other

3) How to use Nominal Group Technique (NGT) for brainstorming sessions

4) Creativity tactics to generate ideas and innovation 

  • Work under a lofty ceiling
  • Make noise
  • Dim the lights
  • Get a good night’s sleep
  • Take a nap
  • Do yoga. Or meditate

5) Two examples of Divergent Thinking and Convergent Thinking working together to create a successful service or product: Twitter (social medial platform) and 3M’s Post-it® Note (sticky note). 

Resources cited:

  • Anne Manning, Divergent vs. Convergent Thinking: How to Strike a Balance (May 10, 2016, Harvard Extension School, Professional Development Blog)
  • Donald M. Rattner, My Creative Space: How to Design Your Home to Stimulate Ideas and Spark Innovation
  • Dyan Williams, Mind Mapping: A Mental Tool for Generating Ideas and Solving Problems, ABA Law Practice Today

Stay creative & logical,

Dyan Williams

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Dyan Williams is a solo lawyer who practices U.S. immigration law and legal ethics at Dyan Williams Law PLLC. She is also a productivity coach who helps working parents, lawyers, small business owners and other busy people turn their ideas into action, reduce overwhelm, and focus on what truly matters. She is the author of The Incrementalist: A Simple Productivity System to Create Big Results in Small Steps. 

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Focused vs. Diffused Thinking: You Need Both to Learn and Solve Problems, The Incrementalist, Ep. 11

Posted on March 24, 2021 | Comments Off on Focused vs. Diffused Thinking: You Need Both to Learn and Solve Problems, The Incrementalist, Ep. 11

To learn new concept and skills, you need to engage both the focused mode and diffused mode of thinking. Learning is a meta skill that allows you to turn information into intelligence and knowledge into expertise. If you know how to learn, you can broaden your passions and not just follow existing ones.

To solve problems, you must access and activate the neural networks in your brain.  There’s the task-positive network and the task-negative network. Task-positive is focused mode. And task-negative is diffused mode. You cannot use both at the same time. Instead, you move from one to the next to fully understand a problem and generate the best ideas to solve it.

In episode 11 of The Incrementalist podcast, you will discover:

  • The difference between the focused mode and the diffused mode of thinking
  • The reasons you need both modes to learn new things and solve problems
  • The limitations of the focused mode, e.g. Einstellung effect
  • The limitations of the diffused mode, e.g. lack of deliberate practice
  • Salvador Dali and Thomas Edison’s use of micronaps (hypnagogia) to get unstuck and generate ideas
  • How to activate each thinking mode and move from one mode to the other
  • Why mind mapping is better than linear note taking for connecting ideas and seeing the big picture

Resources cited: 

Stay focused & diffused,

Dyan Williams

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Dyan Williams is a solo lawyer who practices U.S. immigration law and legal ethics at Dyan Williams Law PLLC. She is also a productivity coach who helps working parents, lawyers, small business owners and other busy people turn their ideas into action, reduce overwhelm, and focus on what truly matters. She is the author of The Incrementalist: A Simple Productivity System to Create Big Results in Small Steps. 

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Rest Even When You’re Busy: The Incrementalist, Ep. 10

Posted on March 17, 2021 | Comments Off on Rest Even When You’re Busy: The Incrementalist, Ep. 10

Do you feel like rest is a waste of time? Is it just a reward for the hard work you do? Do you measure your success by how busy you are?

To have a productive and well-lived life, you need to layer high-cognitive, focused work with recovery and reflection. Deliberate rest is just as important as deep work.

Work and rest are not competitors; they are equal partners. Active rest is a skill that you integrate into your day. It’s not just the absence of work. 

In episode 10 of The Incrementalist podcast, you will learn 6 tips to rest deliberately even when you’re busy: 

Tip 1: Try napping for 20 minutes, preferably after lunch when you’re in the afternoon slump. If you’re in an office setting where naps are not convenient, sit comfortably in a quiet space, close your eyes, and rest.  

Tip 2: Participate in deep play that is physically engaging, but not too mentally taxing. Physical activity and creative hobbies are highly restorative.

Tip 3: Savor a real break instead of mix it with work. After every 90 to 120 minutes of focused work, it’s ideal to detach and rest for 20 to 30 minutes. Unplug and leave the digital devices behind. 

Tip 4:  Take a vacation or sabbatical. You reach maximum restoration with 7 to 8 days of vacation. The benefits of a vacation can last for 2 months or so. Aim to take one every 2 to 3 months for peak performance. At the very least, have weekends when you switch completely off from work. 

Tip 5: Set clear boundaries between work and rest. If you do remote work, you could create a fake commute to transition from home to office mode. Keep a start-up routine to transition into work and a shut-down routine to move out of it. 

Tip 6: Consider workplace cultures, structural changes and societal dimensions of work. Law firms and consulting services, for example, might need to shift from time-based to project-based billing to encourage optimal work-to-rest ratios. Personal productivity can only go so far if your work environment or organizational culture doesn’t support deep work and deep play.

Resources cited:

  • Alex Soojung-Kim Pang, Rest: Why You Get More Done When You Work Less
  • Alex Soojung-Kim Pang, Shorter: Work Better, Smarter, and Less – Here’s How 

To listen to episode 10, Rest Even When You’re Busy, click here. Subscribe to The Incrementalist at Apple Podcasts or other apps.

Cheers,

Dyan Williams

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Dyan Williams is a solo lawyer who practices U.S. immigration law and legal ethics at Dyan Williams Law PLLC. She is also a productivity coach who helps working parents, lawyers, small business owners and other busy people turn their ideas into action, reduce overwhelm, and focus on what truly matters. She is the author of The Incrementalist: A Simple Productivity System to Create Big Results in Small Steps. 

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Why Weekly Planning Works: The Incrementalist, Ep. 9

Posted on March 10, 2021 | Comments Off on Why Weekly Planning Works: The Incrementalist, Ep. 9

With a weekly plan, you focus on your top priorities over the course of 7 days rather than 1 day. The tasks can be work-related like client projects or business development and marketing activities. Or they can be personal like prioritizing family, movement, sleep, outdoor recreation and creative hobbies.

A weekly planning session leads to more clarity, control, focus and flow.

It gives you a broader perspective of what you need to get done. It also gives you more flexibility to get the right things done. It’s often more essential than a daily to-do list or a daily action plan.

In episode 9 of The Incrementalist podcast, you’ll learn about why weekly planning works, and how it creates more clarity, control, focus and flow:

1. Clarity: Weekly planning reduces overwhelm and makes space for your best work with greater ease. It gives you more direction in how you will move forward on your high-level projects, while taking care of routine tasks and obligations to others. 

  • The Five Projects Rule
  • The four blocks to plan your days in each week: focus blocks, social blocks, admin blocks and recovery blocks

2.  Control: Weekly planning reduces stress and feelings of defeat because it puts you in control of the next 7 days. It not only gives you more flexibility, but also allows you to be more spontaneous.  You have a whole week, not just a day to accomplish key tasks. 

  • The Eisenhower Matrix or Priority Matrix: important and urgent; important and not urgent; urgent and not important; not important and not urgent
  • Do, defer (schedule), delegate, drop

3. Focus: Weekly planning gives you more freedom to focus. It makes daily planning easier because you can add, delete, and check tasks off as you move through the week. It puts you in proactive mode instead of just react to what comes up in the day or what’s coming up the next day. 

  • Triage your calendar and task list
  • Use weekly to-do list instead of a daily one

4. Flow: Weekly planning produces more flow, which is the optimal experience in which you’re so involved in an activity that nothing else seems to matter. It’s a key ingredient of a meaningful and happy life. 

  • Synch with your natural rhythm
  • Align with context and circumstances
  • Consider the concept of state-dependent recall

Resources cited: 

  • Kate Northrup, Do Less: A Revolutionary Approach to Time and Energy Management for Ambitious Women
  • Charlie Gilkey, Start Finishing: How to Go From Idea to Done

To listen to episode 9, Why Weekly Planning Works, click here. Subscribe to The Incrementalist at Apple Podcasts or other apps.

Here’s to planning your ideal week,
Dyan Williams

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Dyan Williams is a solo lawyer who practices U.S. immigration law and legal ethics at Dyan Williams Law PLLC. She is also a productivity coach who helps working parents, lawyers, small business owners and other busy people turn their ideas into action, reduce overwhelm, and focus on what truly matters. She is the author of The Incrementalist: A Simple Productivity System to Create Big Results in Small Steps. 

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How to Plan an Ideal Week: The Incrementalist, Ep. 8

Posted on March 3, 2021 | Comments Off on How to Plan an Ideal Week: The Incrementalist, Ep. 8

If you feel overwhelmed and off course, weekly planning helps you to take control and get back on track. The lack of a plan or the plan itself could be your problem. Cultivate purposeful work and intentional living with a review of your past week and a preview of your upcoming week.

Consolidate by planning your ideal week, designate by prioritizing your tasks with the weekly review, and activate by beating interruptions and distractions. Streamline your to-do list by connecting to your heart, mind, and body and the cosmos.

What do you want to have done in the week? What are the big things you can do to call the week a success and make it great? 

Unexpected things will come up. Tasks will take longer than you expected. Distractions and interruptions will pull you away. But you’re more likely to accomplish what you must when you plan for it and begin with the end in mind. 

In episode 8 of The Incrementalist podcast, I discuss achieving more by doing less in a week. You will learn: 

1. How to consolidate by planning your Ideal Week 

  • The concepts of batching and theming
  • The categories of front stage, back stage, and off stage activities
  • The use of color codes in your weekly plan or calendar to reflect focus areas

2. How to designate by prioritizing your tasks with the Weekly Review and Preview

  • The best times to do a weekly review and preview
  • The six steps in a weekly planning session: list your biggest wins; review the prior week; review your lists and notes; check goals, projects, events, meetings and deadlines; designate your Weekly Big 3 things to accomplish; and plan for self-care

3. How to streamline your to-do list

  • The four areas to help you design your week and your weekly to-dos: body; mind; heart; and the cosmos. 
  • The importance of margin or buffer time

Resources Cited: 

  • Michael Hyatt, Free to Focus: A Total Productivity System to Achieve More by Doing Less
  • Kate Northrup, Do Less: A Revolutionary Approach to Time and Energy Management for Ambitious Women

To listen to episode 8, How to Plan an Ideal Week, click here.

Cheers,
Dyan Williams

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Dyan Williams is a solo lawyer who practices U.S. immigration law and legal ethics at Dyan Williams Law PLLC. She is also a productivity coach who helps working parents, lawyers, small business owners and other busy people turn their ideas into action, reduce overwhelm, and focus on what truly matters. She is the author of The Incrementalist: A Simple Productivity System to Create Big Results in Small Steps. 

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