Six thinking hats

ACTIVITY TYPE

• Consulting 
• Deciding together 
• Reflection and feedback 

DESCRIPTION

This tool enables groups to look at a decision from several points of view. It was created by Edward de Bono in his book Six Thinking Hats and is an important and powerful technique. The tool is used to look at decisions from a number of important perspectives. This forces participants to move outside a habitual thinking style and helps achieve a more rounded view of a situation.

Six colours of hats for six types of thinking, each hat identifies a type of thinking. Hats are directions of thinking. Hats help a group use parallel thinking. You can “put on” and “take off” a hat. 

The model of the six thinking hats aims to ensure that a task is as complete as possible and is analysed thoroughly.

WATER/ AGRICULTURE EXAMPLE

Might be used to analyse decisions on ….

HOW TO USE IT ONLINE  

The same steps using on line platform by all participants 

RESOURCES NEEDED

• Time to do: several hours 
• Staff: experienced facilitator in this method needed
• Equipment: 6 different colours of hats 

SUITABLE FOR  

large and small groups

HOW TO DO IT  

1. Develop a question important to the issue being considered or a series of options for the audience to consider.
2. Facilitator explains the meaning of the 6 hats for the group: 

• White Hat – What are the facts and figures?
• Red Hat – What’s your gut reaction?  How do you feel about this? emotions & feelings
• Black Hat – Why can’t we do this?  What prevents us?  What’s the downside? cautious & careful
• Yellow Hat – How can we do this? hope, positive & speculative
• Green Hat – What are additional opportunities? creativity, ideas & lateral thinking
• Blue Hat – How should we think about this? (control & organization of thinking)

3. The participants of a round put on a hat colour and adopt this thinking attitude. 
4. They discuss one after the other the analytical aspects, the emotional ones, critical, etc.
5. Everyone can and should use all the hats. to be used effectively, each person in a meeting can and must be able to wear each hat in turn.
6. Sequence can be pre-set or evolving

ADVANTAGES

• Makes meetings much shorter and more productive
• Reduces conflict among team members or meeting participants
• Stimulates innovation by generating more and better ideas quickly
• Creates dynamic, results oriented meetings that make people want to participate
• Allows to see all sides of a situation
• By switching hats, you can switch points of view, avoids that a person is criticized because of his personal view, because all of them alternately have a different task of thinking.
• It’s easier to ask somebody to wear another hat, than tell them to change their thinking

CHALLENGIES

• Requires discipline from each person while using to stay in the idiom
• Adds an element of play, play along – needs experienced facilitator to keep on track
• We can’t get the right answer, if we ask the wrong question
• Crucial blue hat skill

VARIATIONS 

There are different ways to do it 

• you may split the audience into group with different focuses (different colours) 
• You may split into groups with the same focus 
• You may ask the group for each focus separately 
• Ask volunteers to provide focus contributions 

MORE INFORMATION

https://www.debonogroup.com/services/core-programs/six-thinking-hats/

https://safety4sea.com/cm-six-thinking-hats-a-role-playing-model-to-successful-decision-making/

https://www.storyboardthat.com/blog/e/six-thinking-hats-in-the-classroom