BOOK REVIEW

Ashish Telang

MMS B 118

The Six Thinking Hats tool is a powerful technique used to look at decisions from
different points of view. This helps us move away from habitual thinking styles and
towards a more rounded view of a situation.

There are six different imaginary hats that you can put on or take off. Each hat is a
different colour and represents a different style of thinking.

AUTHOR

Edward de Bono was born in Malta in 1933. He attended St Edward's College, Malta,
during World War II and then the University of Malta where he qualified in medicine. He
proceeded, as a Rhodes Scholar, to Christ Church, Oxford, where he gained an
honours degree in psychology and physiology and then a D.Phil in medicine. He also
holds a Ph.D from Cambridge and an MD from the University of Malta. He has held
appointments at the universities of Oxford, London, Cambridge and Harvard.

SUMMARY OF THE BOOK

In a group all the participants are allowed to wear the hats of same colour. It means all
have to explore by thinking in one particular direction/type. By changing hats of different
colours thinking can be channeled in any desired directions. Even though some
individuals want to think in different domain, they are not allowed to do so. To elaborate,
if the intention is to collect advantages of using certain raw materials in the production
process all are required to think in direction of advantages only. At this point no one is
allowed to discuss about disadvantages even if some want to do so. By this way
maximum number of advantages is collected.
When all are asked to change hats and think about disadvantages, all have to explore
and list out disadvantages only and collect to the maximum. Thus an individual
prejudice doesn’t come in the way of thinking. Maximum inputs can be obtained for
proper decision making. This method can be used in any other decision making
situations.

Learnings:

 focus thinking;
 this theory leads to more creative thinking;
 improves communication;
 improves decision making.

Application in personal life

Book helps me improve my communication skills.

Application in professional life

Improves decision making skills. And generates understanding that there are multiple
perspectives on an issue.