Lateral Thinking

Thinking from Different Angles

 Learning Objectives:
• Get acquainted with the concept of six thinking hats
• Employ different listening and thinking strategies
suited to the topic and purpose
• Examine biases made by one’s self and by a speaker
or author
• Judge relevance and worth of ideas
• Justify the importance of using six thinking hats and
lateral thinking
• Share ideas using opinion-making signals
Try to answer the brain teasers below by only asking
questions answerable by yes or no. Write you answers
on a ¼ sheet of paper.

Brain Teaser # 1
An archeologist rushed to a museum, as there were
claims that the actual bodies of Adam and Eve were
preserved and displayed in a special glass case. He
went to the said section of the museum and closely
looked at the alleged bodies of our first parents. He
nodded his head and said, “indeed, these truly are
Adam and Eve.”
What made him conclude such just by mere
observation?
 Brain Teaser # 1: Adam & Eve
What made him conclude such just by mere
observation?
Sample questions:
•Was there a snake beside the preserved bodies?
•Was there an apple beside the preserved bodies?
•Was Adam missing a rib?
Questions from the perspective of the Bible
Thinking outside the box, one might ask…

•Do they have belly buttons?

 Answer the questions by writing questions
answerable by yes or no.
Brain Teaser # 2
In a motel, a bell boy hears a noise from the
suite. He goes in the room and finds on the floor
broken glass, a puddle of water, and a male and
female – both naked and dead but without a
trace of blood. What happened?
“BIAS”
What are your
biases?
 Bias
A certain prejudice or partiality over an issue or
fact; a preconceived notion which inhibits one
from making a fair and just judgment.
 BIAS CHECKLIST
STATEMENT AGREE DISAGREE
1. I feel very frustrated
when people disagree with
my opinions.
2. My religion has the most
reasonable philosophy &
beliefs compared to other
religions.
3. Men are better than
women.
 BIAS CHECKLIST
STATEMENT AGREE DISAGREE
4. There are only two
accepted genders in the
society.
5. I’ve always wanted to live
in another country.
6. I would sacrifice my
dream job for a good paying
one.
 BIAS CHECKLIST
STATEMENT AGREE DISAGREE
7. The Philippines has no
hope in
improving/becoming better.
8. Media is to blame for its
influence on the youth.
9. Men should always have
the final decision.
10. Science has all the
answers and can explain
everything.
 BIAS CHECKLIST
STATEMENT AGREE DISAGREE
11. Faith & religion can
explain everything.
12. The law will always have
exceptions and loopholes.
13. Technology is a blessing
to people.
14. Any bad deed with good
intention is still
immoral/bad
 BIAS CHECKLIST
STATEMENT AGREE DISAGREE
15. Loyalty is standing by my
family & friends even if they
are wrong.
16. A fair-skinned and slim
woman is beautiful.
17. A teacher should never
make mistakes.
18. It is expected that a
woman will know & does all
household chores.
 BIAS CHECKLIST
STATEMENT AGREE DISAGREE
19. Traditionas should be
respected and never
change.
20. There is no such thing
as compromise/in
between
Total:
The term “bias” has a negative connotation most
of the time, but having a bias is not bad, it is
normal.
Everyone has his/her own preferences,
perspective, and inclination that determine
choices and decisions that he/she makes.
Edward de Bono

The human mind is a

system, but the problem
is we tend to use
traditional thinking and
fail to see the different
angles of a situation.
 Lateral Thinking
Edward de Bono believes that there are other light
bulbs in the brain which need to be used, thus widen
our horizons and get to use all angles and modes of
thinking available in our brain.
 To apply Edward de Bono’s Theory, one
can do the following when facing a
dilemma or problem to solve:

1.Keep your bias in check.

2.Look at all possible angles.
3.Take note of ALL details.
The Conscientious Thinker
The White Hat
• The information
seeking hat.
• What are the facts?
• What information is
available? What is
relevant?
• When wearing the
white hat we are
neutral in our thinking.
The White Hat
• What information do
we have here?
• What information is
missing?
• What information
would we like to have?
• How are we going to
get the information?
The White Hat
• focus on the data
available
• Look at the
information you have
• see what you can
learn from data
presented
The Emotional Thinker
The Red Hat
• What do you feel
about the suggestion?
• What are your gut
reactions?
• What intuitions do
you have?
• Don’t think too long or
too hard.
The Red Hat
• What do you feel
about the suggestion?
• What are your gut
reactions?
• What intuitions do
you have?
• Don’t think too long or
too hard.
• My gut feeling says that this will not
work.
• I don't like the way this is being
done.
• This sounds so exciting!
• Don’t think too long or too hard.
The Optimist
The Yellow Hat
• The sunshine hat.
• It is positive and
constructive.
• It is about
effectiveness and
getting a job done.
• What are the benefits,
the advantages?
• What are the benefits of this
option?
• Why is this proposal preferable?
• What are the positive assets of
this design?
The Devil’s Advocate
The Black Hat
• The caution hat.
• In black hat the
thinker points out
errors or pit-falls.
• What are the risks or
dangers involved?
• Identifies difficulties
and problems.
• This proposal would be too expensive.
• I don't think that the regulations would
allow this.
• This design might look nice, but it is not
practical.
• It may sound promising, but does it really
meet its objective?
 Black Hat
• Black Hat thinking helps to make your plans
'tougher' and more resilient.

• It can also help you to spot fatal flaws and

risks before you embark on a course of action.

• Black Hat thinking is one of the real benefits of

this technique.
The Creative Thinker
The Green Hat
• This is the creative
mode of thinking.
• Green represents
growth and movement.
• In green hat we look to
new ideas and
solutions.
• Lateral thinking wears
a green hat.
 Green Hat
• The Green Hat stands for creativity.

• This is where you can develop creative

solutions to a problem.

• It is a freewheeling way of thinking, in which

there is little criticism of ideas.
The Leader
The Blue Hat
• The control hat,
organising thinking
itself.
• Sets the focus, calls for
the use of other hats.
• Monitors and reflects
on the thinking
processes used.
• Blue is for planning.
 Blue Hat
• The Blue Hat stands for process control.
• This is the hat worn by people chairing
meetings.
• When running into difficulties because ideas
are running dry, they may direct activity into
Green Hat thinking.
• When contingency plans are needed, they will
ask for Black Hat thinking, etc.
 Six Thinking Hats

Informative
Intuitive Constructive

Reflective Creative

Cautious
 Thinking Hat Concept Notes
Must include :
•A graphic organizer/ illustration discussing the
six thinking hats
•Indicate an experience on how you personally
used each particular hat
•See concept notes rubric for grading
 Thinking Hat Concept Notes
Reminders:
•Use a short bond paper
•Follow the English format
•Do not write or use the back portion of your paper

•Deadline of submission: March 29, 2019