Six Thinking Hats
Tuesday, November 26, 2013
Six Thinking Hats
Looking at a Decision From All Points of View
Look at decisions from many angles,
with James Manktelow & Amy Carlson.
'Six Thinking Hats' is an important and powerful technique. It is used to look at decisions from a number of important perspectives. This forces you to move outside your habitual thinking style, and helps you to get a more rounded view of a situation.
This tool was created by Edward de Bono in his book ' 6 Thinking Hats '.
Many successful people think from a very rational, positive viewpoint. This is part of the reason that they are successful. Often, though, they may fail to look at a problem from an emotional, intuitive, creative or negative viewpoint. This can mean that they underestimate resistance to plans, fail to make creative leaps and do not make essential contingency plans.
Similarly, pessimists may be excessively defensive, and more emotional people may fail to look at decisions calmly and rationally.
If you look at a problem with the 'Six Thinking Hats' technique, then you will solve it using all approaches. Your decisions and plans will mix ambition, skill in execution, public sensitivity, creativity and good contingency planning.
How to Use the Tool
You can use Six Thinking Hats in meetings or on your own. In meetings it has the benefit of blocking the confrontations that happen when people with different thinking styles discuss the same problem.
Each 'Thinking Hat' is a different style of thinking. These are explained below:
White Hat:
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 analyze past trends, and try to extrapolate from historical data.
Red Hat:
'Wearing' the red hat, you look at problems using intuition, gut
reaction, and emotion. Also try to think how other people will react
emotionally. Try to understand the responses of people who do not
fully know your reasoning.
Black Hat:
Using black hat thinking, look at all the bad points of the
decision. Look at it cautiously and defensively. Try to see why it
might not work. This is important because it highlights the weak
points in a plan. It allows you to eliminate them, alter them, or
prepare contingency plans to counter them.
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, as many successful people get so
used to thinking positively that often they cannot see problems in
advance. This leaves them under-prepared for difficulties.
Yellow Hat:
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. Yellow Hat thinking helps you to keep going when
everything looks gloomy and difficult.
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. A whole range
of creativity tools can help you here.
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.
A variant of this technique is to look at problems from the point of
view of different professionals (e.g. doctors, architects, sales
directors, etc.) or different customers.
Example
The directors of a property company are looking at whether they
should construct a new office building. The economy is doing well,
and the amount of vacant office space is reducing sharply. As part
of their decision they decide to use the 6 Thinking Hats technique
during a planning meeting.
Looking at the problem with the White Hat, they analyze the data
they have. They examine the trend in vacant office space, which
shows a sharp reduction. They anticipate that by the time the office
block would be completed, that there will be a severe shortage of
office space. Current government projections show steady economic
growth for at least the construction period.
With Red Hat thinking, some of the directors think the proposed
building looks quite ugly. While it would be highly cost-effective,
they worry that people would not like to work in it.
When they think with the Black Hat, they worry that government
projections may be wrong. The economy may be about to enter a
'cyclical downturn', in which case the office building may be empty
for a long time. If the building is not attractive, then companies
will choose to work in another better-looking building at the same
rent.
With the Yellow Hat, however, if the economy holds up and their
projections are correct, the company stands to make a great deal of
money. If they are lucky, maybe they could sell the building before
the next downturn, or rent to tenants on long-term leases that will
last through any recession.
With Green Hat thinking they consider whether they should change the
design to make the building more pleasant. Perhaps they could build
prestige offices that people would want to rent in any economic
climate. Alternatively, maybe they should invest the money in the
short term to buy up property at a low cost when a recession comes.
The Blue Hat has been used by the meeting's Chair to move among
the different thinking styles. He or she may have needed to keep
other members of the team from switching styles, or from criticizing
other peoples' points.
It is well worth reading Edward de Bono's book 6 Thinking Hats for
more information on this technique.
Key Points
Six Thinking Hats is a good technique for looking at the effects of
a decision from a number of different points of view.
It allows necessary emotion and skepticism to be brought into what
would otherwise be purely rational decisions. It opens up the
opportunity for creativity within Decision Making. The technique
also helps, for example, persistently pessimistic people to be
positive and creative.
Plans developed using the '6 Thinking Hats' technique will be
sounder and more resilient than would otherwise be the case. It may
also help you to avoid public relations mistakes, and spot good
reasons not to follow a course of action before you have committed to it.
Tags:
Decision Making, Skills
Looking at a Decision From All Points of View
Look at decisions from many angles,
with James Manktelow & Amy Carlson.
'Six Thinking Hats' is an important and powerful technique. It is used to look at decisions from a number of important perspectives. This forces you to move outside your habitual thinking style, and helps you to get a more rounded view of a situation.
This tool was created by Edward de Bono in his book ' 6 Thinking Hats '.
Many successful people think from a very rational, positive viewpoint. This is part of the reason that they are successful. Often, though, they may fail to look at a problem from an emotional, intuitive, creative or negative viewpoint. This can mean that they underestimate resistance to plans, fail to make creative leaps and do not make essential contingency plans.
Similarly, pessimists may be excessively defensive, and more emotional people may fail to look at decisions calmly and rationally.
If you look at a problem with the 'Six Thinking Hats' technique, then you will solve it using all approaches. Your decisions and plans will mix ambition, skill in execution, public sensitivity, creativity and good contingency planning.
How to Use the Tool
You can use Six Thinking Hats in meetings or on your own. In meetings it has the benefit of blocking the confrontations that happen when people with different thinking styles discuss the same problem.
Each 'Thinking Hat' is a different style of thinking. These are explained below:
White Hat:
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 analyze past trends, and try to extrapolate from historical data.
Red Hat:
'Wearing' the red hat, you look at problems using intuition, gut
reaction, and emotion. Also try to think how other people will react
emotionally. Try to understand the responses of people who do not
fully know your reasoning.
Black Hat:
Using black hat thinking, look at all the bad points of the
decision. Look at it cautiously and defensively. Try to see why it
might not work. This is important because it highlights the weak
points in a plan. It allows you to eliminate them, alter them, or
prepare contingency plans to counter them.
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, as many successful people get so
used to thinking positively that often they cannot see problems in
advance. This leaves them under-prepared for difficulties.
Yellow Hat:
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. Yellow Hat thinking helps you to keep going when
everything looks gloomy and difficult.
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. A whole range
of creativity tools can help you here.
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.
A variant of this technique is to look at problems from the point of
view of different professionals (e.g. doctors, architects, sales
directors, etc.) or different customers.
Example
The directors of a property company are looking at whether they
should construct a new office building. The economy is doing well,
and the amount of vacant office space is reducing sharply. As part
of their decision they decide to use the 6 Thinking Hats technique
during a planning meeting.
Looking at the problem with the White Hat, they analyze the data
they have. They examine the trend in vacant office space, which
shows a sharp reduction. They anticipate that by the time the office
block would be completed, that there will be a severe shortage of
office space. Current government projections show steady economic
growth for at least the construction period.
With Red Hat thinking, some of the directors think the proposed
building looks quite ugly. While it would be highly cost-effective,
they worry that people would not like to work in it.
When they think with the Black Hat, they worry that government
projections may be wrong. The economy may be about to enter a
'cyclical downturn', in which case the office building may be empty
for a long time. If the building is not attractive, then companies
will choose to work in another better-looking building at the same
rent.
With the Yellow Hat, however, if the economy holds up and their
projections are correct, the company stands to make a great deal of
money. If they are lucky, maybe they could sell the building before
the next downturn, or rent to tenants on long-term leases that will
last through any recession.
With Green Hat thinking they consider whether they should change the
design to make the building more pleasant. Perhaps they could build
prestige offices that people would want to rent in any economic
climate. Alternatively, maybe they should invest the money in the
short term to buy up property at a low cost when a recession comes.
The Blue Hat has been used by the meeting's Chair to move among
the different thinking styles. He or she may have needed to keep
other members of the team from switching styles, or from criticizing
other peoples' points.
It is well worth reading Edward de Bono's book 6 Thinking Hats for
more information on this technique.
Key Points
Six Thinking Hats is a good technique for looking at the effects of
a decision from a number of different points of view.
It allows necessary emotion and skepticism to be brought into what
would otherwise be purely rational decisions. It opens up the
opportunity for creativity within Decision Making. The technique
also helps, for example, persistently pessimistic people to be
positive and creative.
Plans developed using the '6 Thinking Hats' technique will be
sounder and more resilient than would otherwise be the case. It may
also help you to avoid public relations mistakes, and spot good
reasons not to follow a course of action before you have committed to it.
