Question

wood tales inc., a furniture company, was facing declining sales. in a brainstorming session, the company's product development team was asked to think about how a chair would be used from the perspective of four-year olds. after several creative ideas, the team came up with the idea that a chair could be used as a ladder, a table, or a shoe rack if it could be dismantled and rearranged. hence, the company was able to commercialize its multi-purpose chair. this method of seeking novel alternatives to a problem is referred to as . question 8answer a. divergent thinking b. reflective thinking c. convergent thinking d. parallel thinking

Answer 1

Wood Tales Inc. used divergent thinking to innovate their product line by creating a multi-purpose chair, which helped to address declining sales by generating multiple creative solutions and appealing to a new market. The correct multiple-choice option is (a).

Step-by-step explanation:

Wood Tales Inc.'s approach to revitalizing their product line involved leveraging a process known as divergent thinking. By envisioning how a chair could fulfill roles outside its traditional use, such as becoming a ladder, table, or shoe rack, the team sought out multiple, unique solutions to their decline in sales. This kind of creativity is at the heart of divergent thinking, which is characterized by the ability to think outside the box and generate various possibilities for a given challenge, as opposed to convergent thinking which narrows down options to find the single best solution.

In applying this method, Wood Tales Inc. embraced the essence of what makes a chair valuable beyond its conventional definition, abstracting the idea to its core purpose and adapting it to suit more diverse functions. This praxis of thought not only enabled the company to innovate but also to connect with a new market, children, by offering a multifunctional product that caters to a playful and utilitarian perspective. The correct multiple-choice option is (a).