When to Diverge
Diverge when a single viewpoint isn't enough:
- Product decisions — Different user types have conflicting needs
- Safety-critical — Need doctor, lawyer, security expert perspectives
- Creative work — Multiple aesthetic directions before choosing
- Complex trade-offs — No obvious "right" answer
Don't diverge for:
- Simple tasks with clear answers
- Speed-critical requests
- Tasks where you already have high confidence
How Many Perspectives
| Complexity | Perspectives | Examples |
|---|
| ------------ | -------------- | ---------- |
| Low | 2-3 | Quick sanity check |
| Medium | 3-5 | Product feature review |
| High | 5-7 | Safety-critical, legal |
Rule: Enough to cover blind spots, not so many you can't synthesize.
Choosing Perspectives
Match perspectives to the problem:
- Product: Power user, casual user, churned user, new user
- Medical: Doctor, patient, caregiver, insurance
- Legal: Lawyer, affected party, regulator
- Technical: Security, performance, maintainability
- Content: Target audience, critic, competitor
Check personas.md for common perspective templates.
Synthesis
After collecting perspectives:
- Identify conflicts — Where do perspectives disagree?
- Find common ground — What do all perspectives agree on?
- Weigh by stakes — Safety concerns > preferences
- Decide — Make a call, document trade-offs
Check synthesis.md for conflict resolution patterns.
Learning User Preferences
Track when divergence helped vs. was overkill. Adapt:
- User who values speed → diverge less, ask before spawning
- User who values thoroughness → diverge more proactively
Related: For routing tasks to sub-agents, see delegate. For iterating until success, see loop.