Six Thinking Hats

Edward deBonos parallel

thinking
So the six hats are?
Six colors of hats for six types of thinking
Each hat identifies a type of thinking
Hats are directions of thinking
Hats help a group use parallel thinking
You can put on and take off a hat
Uses for Six Hats
Problem solving
Strategic planning
Running meetings
Much more
and six hats
White: objective facts & figures
Red: emotions & feelings
Black: cautious & careful
Yellow: hope, positive & speculative
Green: creativity, ideas & lateral
thinking
Blue: control & organization of thinking
General hat issues
Direction, not description
Set out to think in a certain direction
Lets have some black hat thinking
Not categories of people
Not: Hes a black hat thinker.
Everyone can and should use all the hats
A constructive form of showing off
Show off by being a better thinker
Not destructive right vs. wrong argument
Use in whole or in part
Benefits of Six Thinking Hats
Provides a common language
Experience & intelligence of each person
(Diversity of thought)
Use more of our brains
Helps people work against type, preference
Removal of ego (reduce confrontation)
Save time
Focus (one thing at a time)
Create, evaluate & implement action plans
Using the hats
Use any hat, as often as needed
Sequence can be preset or evolving
Not necessary to use every hat
Time under each hat: generally, short
Requires discipline from each person
While using it, stay in the idiom
Adds an element of play, play along
Can be used by individuals and groups
The blue hat
Thinking about thinking
Instructions for thinking
The organization of thinking
Control of the other hats
Discipline and focus
The blue hat role
Control of thinking & the process
Begin & end session with blue hat
Facilitator, session leaders role
Choreography
open, sequence, close
Focus: what should we be thinking about
Asking the right questions
Defining & clarifying the problem
Setting the thinking tasks
White Hat Thinking
Neutral, objective information
Facts & figures
Questions: what do we know, what dont
we know, what do we need to know
Excludes opinions, hunches, judgements
Removes feelings & impressions
Two tiers of facts
Believed Facts
Checked Facts
Red Hat Thinking
Emotions & feelings
Hunches, intuitions, impressions
Doesnt have to be logical or consistent
No justifications, reasons or basis
All decisions are emotional in the end
Yellow Hat Thinking
Positive & speculative
Positive thinking, optimism, opportunity
Benefits
Best-case scenarios
Exploration
Green Hat Thinking
New ideas, concepts, perceptions
Deliberate creation of new ideas
Alternatives and more alternatives
New approaches to problems
Creative & lateral thinking
Black Hat Thinking
Cautious and careful
Logical negative why it wont work
Critical judgement, pessimistic view
Separates logical negative from
emotional
Focus on errors, evidence,
conclusions
Logical & truthful, but not necessarily
fair
Six hats summary
Blue: control & organization of thinking

White: objective facts & figures

Red: emotions & feelings

Yellow: hope, positive & speculative

Green: creativity, ideas & lateral thinking

Black: cautious & careful
THANK
YOU