"divergent thinkers" is correct and can be used in written English.
You can use it when referring to people that are capable of thinking in unconventional ways or "outside the box". For example, "Some of the world's greatest innovators are divergent thinkers."
There are introverts and extroverts, convergent thinkers and divergent thinkers, there are some real perfectionists and then there are some people who can play it loose and experiment all the time.
These divergent thinkers are often the instigators necessary to accelerate change.
Divergent thinkers are helpful instigators who break up groupthink -- and when they leave feeling heard, can actually help the rest of the team form a coalition.
There are many other personality tests out there... the Enneagram, or learning styles tests (e.g. convergent vs. divergent thinkers), along with more rigorous tests used in psychological research such as NEO-PI (Neuroticism Extraversion Openness Personality Inventory).
The new top talent will demonstrate a track record for being scrappy problem solvers, curious learners and divergent thinkers whose imaginative approach makes them good at figuring things out with minimal direction.
3. They're convergent and divergent thinkers.
Are you a convergent or divergent thinker?
Paul is the opposite — what I call a "divergent thinker".
Blond Stevie expressed confusion that Big Joe could understand slant rhymes and not simple rhymes, and Fuzzy Julie explained that Big Joe was a divergent thinker, and was thus likely to be stumped by the obvious while relating more easily to concepts put to him abstractly.
The challenge helped me to become a better divergent thinker by making me see problems differently and exploring solutions from a wider variety of sources.
The article concludes by calling for the creation of "innovation communities" — i.e. support systems that offer the "divergent thinker" a structure and a set of tools for multiplying the impact of a great idea.
