6-Hat Thinking – Edward De Bono – Creative Thinking

Edward de Bono, the originator of the term ‘lateral thinking’ – observed that people have a tendency to approach decisions and problems from an entrenched habitual perspective. He found that many successful people tend to have a positive and optimistic bias to their thinking. While this was one of the reasons behind their success, it could lead to exposure to risk or result in failure to consider others’ reactions to change.
In his book “6 Thinking Hats” (1985), De Bono creates a powerful technique that helps you to look at important decisions from a number of different perspectives. This enables consideration of other perspectives and heightens ability to spot issues and opportunities and to generate alternative ideas.
The idea of the ‘hats’ is a visual metaphor for six different styles of thinking –
• Postive/Optimistic (Yellow Hat)
• Pessimistic (Black Hat)
• Creative Ideas (Green Hat)
• Emotional (Red Hat)
• Objective Facts (White Hat)

The final Blue hat represents the control of the thinking process – setting out the objectives at the beginning, deciding the order of the hats, chairing the meeting, summarising the results at the end, etc.
The technique can be used by a person on their own or in a group setting. You don’t have to have actual hats – although a set of coloured baseball caps or cards with hats on them can help keep participants focused. The key is that the contributions to the discussion have to be in line with the hat being used at any particular time. Input is captured so that it can be reviewed later.

More about the hats:

Blue Hat – Process control
This is the hat ‘worn’ by the person who chairs the thinking meeting.
They will set out the objectives for the session and decide the order of the hats. They will manage the time and summarise where the thinking has got to at the end.
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, and so on.

White Hat – Objective
With this thinking hat, you focus on the data available. Look at the information you have, and see what you can learn from it. Look for gaps in your knowledge, and either try to fill them or take account of them. This is where you analyse past trends, and try to extrapolate from historical data.
What facts and data do we have?
What can we glean from that?
What do we need to find out?
What questions to ask?
Where can we get information?

Red Hat – Emotional
Wearing the red hat, you look at the decision using intuition, gut reaction, and emotion. Also try to think how other people will react emotionally, and try to understand the intuitive responses of people who do not fully know your reasoning.
What are our intuitive responses/hunches/gut instincts?
What do we feel about this?
What would be the impact on people?

Black Hat – Caution
When using black hat thinking, look at things pessimistically, cautiously and defensively. Try to see why ideas and approaches might not work. This is important because it highlights the weak points in a plan or course of action. It allows you to eliminate them, alter your approach, or prepare contingency plans to counter problems that arise.
What is the pessimistic view?
What could go wrong?
What are the risks/dangers?
What are the weaknesses/cons of the idea?

Yellow Hat – Positive

The yellow hat helps you to think positively. It is the optimistic viewpoint that helps you to see all the benefits of the decision and the value in it, and spot the opportunities that arise from it. Yellow Hat thinking helps you to keep going when everything looks gloomy and difficult.
What is the optimistic view
What are the benefits?
What could go well?
What opportunities could this lead to?
How can it work?

Green Hat – Creative
Think freely about the alternative solutions to a problem – use creative thinking tools.
Ideas
Alternatives
Possibilities
New approaches
Solutions to black hat problems

For a summary PDF that you can use to prompt thinking in a 6-Hat meeting, please email me – zoe@zwcoaching.co.uk quoting ‘6 Hat Thinking Article’.

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Email Zoë Whitby: zoe@zwcoaching.co.uk

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