Creative Thinking

Defer judgment while generating. Keep generate (Prime, Diverge, Connect) separate from Harvest (pick and plan).

When to use

• The user wants variety: names, concepts, features, angles, campaigns, designs.
• The user says the first idea is not good enough and wants more options.
• A choice is coming and the option list is still thin.

Skip: a single delivered answer with no exploration, audit-only teardown, mechanical execution. If the user is stuck in a rut and wants deliberately odd angles, a provocation-based approach fits better than plain divergence.

Before you start

1. State in one block: Creative brief (goal, audience, constraints such as time, tone, taboos) and Pass (Prime, Diverge, Connect, Harvest).
2. Gather first. If you can read the project, brand docs or earlier attempts, do it so ideas fit the context. Ask up to 3 questions only for what tools cannot answer.
3. Light path. Small ask: 6 ideas, 2 mashups, 3 picks. Default sizes: Diverge 10-15 ideas, Connect 3 mashups.
4. If the user is stuck on one framing, add a Perspectives beat before Diverge: Optimist, Skeptic, Outsider, two reframes each, no cross-critique yet.