Six Thinking Hats Ideas are the currency of

Six Thinking Hats Ideas are the currency of success; they separate you from your competition. --Edward de Bono Laynee Timlin, Organizational Development Manager Landmark Communications, Inc.

Six Thinking Hats z Developed by Dr. Edward de Bono, M. D. , Ph. D. , Rhodes Scholar, who is considered the world’s leading authority on the teaching of thinking of a skill. z Replaces one-dimensional thinking with sixdimensional, parallel thinking z Can be used with equal success by top-level executives and preschoolers z Can use just one hat at a time or all hats in a process

Specific Uses. . . z. A critical meeting facilitation tool z. An outstanding team productivity/communication tool z. A creativity enhancer z. A control mechanism used to maximize and organize/focus a person’s thoughts

What the method does. . . z Allows the brain to maximize its sensitivity in different directions at different times; z Initiates “parallel thinking” as opposed to argumentative, confrontational, adversarial thinking z Encourages a direction for thinking

Advantages z. Power– the intelligence, experience and knowledge of all members of the group are fully used. z. Time Saving- meeting time is greatly reduced as every thinker at every moment is thinking in the same direction at the same time; as opposed to constantly defending their position

Advantages z. Removal of ego- provides neutral and objective exploration of a subject– removing argument and antagonism z. Reduces conflict– removes argument and antagonism z. Encourages broader, more creative thinking

Discipline z. For Six Thinking Hats to work, everyone must “play the game” y. Everyone must stay with the hat indicated y. Members cannot “switch hats” at will

Organizational Results. . . z Widely used by corporations such as NASA, IBM, Du. Pont, Shell, and Federal Express. . . y. ABB Corporation reduced the time spent on their multinational project team discussions from 20 days to 2 days y. IBM researchers reduced their meeting times to one quarter of what they had been y. Statoil in Norway solved a problem with an oil rig (costing $100, 000/day) in just 12 minutes

Six Thinking Hats z White Hat ~ The white hat calls for information known or needed. “The facts, just the facts. ” z Red Hat ~ The red hat signifies feelings, hunches, and intuition. When using this hat you can express emotions and feelings and share fears, likes, dislikes, and hates. z Black Hat ~ The black hat is judgment—the devil’s advocate or why something may not work. Spot the difficulties and dangers, where things might go wrong. z Yellow Hat ~ The yellow hat symbolizes brightness and optimism. Under this hat you can explore the positives and probe for value and benefit. z Green Hat ~ The green hat focuses on creativity; the possibilities, alternatives, and new ideas. It’s an opportunity to express new concepts and new perceptions. z Blue Hat ~ The blue hat is used to manage thinking process. It’s the control mechanism that ensures the Six Thinking Hats guidelines are observed.

Practice-- Explore an Issue. . . z. Proposal: What is the process of curbing childhood obesity? How are we going to solve this problem? What would be your contribution to solving this problem? We are seeking your insight and advise. . .

White Hat (neutrality) (Think paper) z Use when seeking information, data, and facts. . . z Reporting on someone else’s feelings (not your own) z Identify checked fact (1 st tier) vs. believed fact (2 nd tier) z Ask: y What information do we have? y What are the facts? y What information do we need? y What questions do we need to ask? y How can we get the information we need?

White Hat (neutrality) Spectrum of likelihood: y. Always true y. Usually true y. Generally true y. By and large y. More often than not y. About half the time y. Often y. Sometimes true y. Occasionally true y. Been known to happen

Red Hat (Feelings) (Fire & warmth) z Use when expression of feelings, emotions, and intuition is needed z Should never have to justify or provide a logical basis for the feelings. . . z Ask: y. How do you feel about this? y. What are the emotions surrounding this issue? y. What is your intuition about this? y. What does your experience tell you?

Red Hat (Feelings) z. Cannot pass on a red hat z. Use: y. Neutral y. Undecided y. Confused y. Doubtful y. Mixed (Fire & warmth)

Yellow Hat (positive) (Sunshine) z Used when searching for the benefits and positive/optimistic aspects z Seeks out real value, not fantasy z Ask: y. What is the value? , for whom? Under what circumstances? y. What is positive about this? What are the benefits? y. Imagine the best possible scenario. . . What if? y. Why would this be great? y. What good can come of this?

Yellow Hat (positive) (Sunshine) z Supported by some judgment z Put forth a proposal, suggestion or idea y How can the proposal be improved & strengthened? z Look for opportunities (speculative best possible scenario) z Estimate of likelihood should be marked y Proven y Very likely, based on experience & what we know y Good chance y Even chance y No better than possible y Remote or long shot

Black hat (caution) z Used to identify pitfalls z Stops us from doing things that are illegal, dangerous, unprofitable, polluting, etc. z Must have a logical basis for criticism z Ask: y. Why may this not work? y. What is the challenges, downside, the pitfalls? y. What’s the potential danger, problems, obstacles? y. What are the risks? y. Will this fit our resources, policy, strategy, ethics, values? y. How will people react? y. Will it continue to be profitable?

Black hat (caution) z. Questions content and process: y. Points out errors in thinking y. Question the strength of the evidence y. Is it the only possible conclusion? z. Cannot interrupt at any point: y. Note and accumulate the main points of criticism to put them forth when this hat is in use y. The green or yellow hat is used to attempt to overcome or cope with the difficulties suggested under the black hat

Green Hat (creative) (new growth) z. Used to generate new ideas, concepts, perceptions, and alternatives z. Seeks new approaches to problems; change z. Ask: y. How can we modify or improve a suggested idea? y. What are some options or alternatives? y. Describe how this can move us forward?

Green Hat (creative) (new growth) z The Purpose is Movement of Idea NOT judgment y. Ask: Suppose… y. Answer: It leads me to think of… y. Ask: What is interesting in this idea? What is different in this idea? What does this idea suggest? z Provocation forces us out of habitual thinking y. Consider a provocative operation (po). . . A crazy idea that stimulates thinking x. Try reversal – “the store pays the customer” x. Try random word association – “Cigarettes and frog” z Creative Pause

Green Hat (creative) (new growth) z Use a concept manager to record y. Shift in type of idea generated y. Shift in where people are looking for solutions y. Newly defined area where new ideas could make a big difference y. Half-formed ideas z Use shapers to shape the idea into a usable idea y. Ask questions to shape idea to fit needs of those who will “buy” the idea x“At the moment there is interest only in ideas that save money. Is there any way this idea can be seen as saving money – now or later? ”

Blue Hat (process) (Cool & Control) z Used for managing the thinking process; this hat provides focus z Typically, the blue hat is worn by the facilitator, chairperson, or leader of the session z No longer thinking about the subject, rather about the thinking needed to explore the subject z Ask: y. What is our agenda? The timeline? People responsible? y. What is the definition of the situation/problem? y. What do we want to achieve? y. What is the background to the thinking? y. What is the sequence of hats used?

Blue Hat (process) z Used for managing the thinking process; it’s the control mechanism z Typically, the blue hat is worn by the facilitator, chairperson, or leader of the session z No longer thinking about the subject, rather about the thinking needed to explore the subject z Ask: y. What are our conclusions? y. What are our next steps? y. How should we share our findings?

When to use six hats. . . z. When you are stuck z. When lots of emotion is involved z. When resolving a complex issue z. When time is critical z. Where there is an imbalance of power z. When full participation is necessary

Use Six Thinking Hats: z. For team meetings z. For individual thinking z. To solve problems z. To propel quality initiatives z. To fully explore any topic z. To make decisions

Conclusions z. The biggest enemy of thinking is complexity, for that leads to confusion. z. Six Thinking Hats serves two main purposes: y. Simplifies thinking to deal with one direction at a time y. Allows a switch in thinking The difference between brilliant and mediocre teams lies not so much in their collective mental equipment, but in how well they use it.