Six Thinking Hats - looking at a problem or decision from all points of view
Six Thinking Hats - looking at a problem or decision from all points of view
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Six thinking hats is a deliberate thinking technique devised by Edward de Bono in the 1980's. The six metaphorical hats represent six modes of thinking and are directions to think rather than labels for thinking. The hats are used proactively rather than reactively. The method provides a fuller input from more people. It encourages parallel thinking, full spectrum thinking and separates ego from performance.
The main difficulty with thinking is confusion. We try to do to much at once: emotions, information, logic, hope and creativity all crowd in together. this deliberate thinking technique requires the thinker to do one thing at a time. The concept involves the idea of putting on a hat to define each type of thinking. The six thinking hats allow you to conduct your thinking like an orchestra. It also allows people to be taken out of a particular groove in order to get them thinking differently. Using the hats You can put on your own hat, ask someone to put on a hat, ask everyone to put on the white hat and choose to answer with the hat on. Each of the six thinking hats has a colour: white, red, black, yellow, green and blue. The colour provides the hame of the hat. The colour of each hat is related to its function. |
| White Hat: White is neutral and objective. The white hat is concerned with objective facts and figures. The white hat thinker seperates fact from interpretation. Fact can be 'checked fact' or 'unchecked facts' (belief). The latter are secondclass facts...' I think I am right in saying that...I once read that... Your opinion is never permissible under white hat thinking, but you can report the actual opinion of someone else. When wearing the white hat, the thinker puts forward neutral statements. There can be no question of using them to push a particular point of view. |
| Red Hat: Red hat suggests anger (seeing red), rage and emotions. The red hat gives the emotional view and permits the wearer to say 'this is how I feel about the matter'. red hat thinking is all about emotions and feelings and the non-rational aspects of thinking. Emotions can range from pure emotion to intuition to hunch. There is never any need to justify or explain feelings. You can just react and feel. Red hat feelings can be directed at the conduct of the meeting itself, not the suject matter that is being discussed. |
| Black Hat: Black is gloomy and negative. The black hat covers the negative aspects - why it cannot be done and what's wrong with it. It points out the risks, dangers, shortfalls and potential problems. Most thinkers feel comfortable wearing the black hat probably because the western emphasis on argument and criticism. Destruction is always much easier than construction. Negative thinking is attractive because its achievement is immediate and complete. Proving someone wrong provides immediate satisfaction. Black hat thinking is always logical and negative but not emotional. It is not concerned with problem solving - only in pointing out the problem. Reasons that are relevant and logical must always be given with any comments made. Whilst it has to be logical and truthful it does not have to be fair. The black hat wearer plays the traditional devil's advocate role. |
| Yellow Hat: Yellow is sunny and positive. The yellow hat is optimistic and covers hope and positive thinking. Yellow hat thinking is concerned with positive assessment and is constructive, speculative, opportunity seeking and generative. It covers the positive spectrum ranging from the logical and practical at one end to dreams, visions and hopes at the other end. The positive probes and explores for value and benefit and puts forward soundly based optimism. Concrete proposals and suggestions are outcomes of this thinking. Yellow hat thinking is concerned with making things happen. |
| Green Hat: Green is grass, vegitation and abundant fertile growth. The green hat indicates creativity and new ideas, and new ways of looking at things.The search for alternatives is a fundamental aspect of green hat thinking. There is a need to go beyond the known and the obvious and the satisfactory. Provocation is an important aspect and is used to take us out of our usual patterns of thinking.Green hat thinking is concerned with change. The green hat demands time to think and for generating new ideas. Even given this time, sometimes no new ideas emerge. |
| Blue Hat: Blue is cool, and it is the colour of the sky, which is above everything else. The blue hat is concerned with control and the organisation of the thinking process, and with the use of the other hats. Blue hat thinking is thinking about thinking. It defines the problem and shapes the questions. It is resposible for summaries, overviews and conclusions. It ensures that the rules of the game are adhered to and stops arguments. It can call for the use of other hats and so blue hat thinker choreographs the discussion. The blue hat thinker can make comment on what he or she observes, break up arguments and through acting the role of chairperson, maintain discipline and focus. |
| This is a deliberate technique which uses the generative, creative and constructive aspects of thinking. You are asked to adopt the pose of a thinker and go through the motions of thinking. If you playact being a thinker, you will become one. |