The classic Six Thinking Hats technique, conceived by Edward de Bono in 1985, is a valuable tool for brainstorming, creative problem solving and making decisions. It accepts people are sometimes negative, but do not dare to express their thoughts. It accepts that emotional responses might prevent new ways of looking at problems.
The thinking process is divided into six lines of thought, represented by six thinking hats. Every line of thought is explored together. An emotional line of thought, a negative line of thought or an optimistic line of thought. During each round (named after a different colour hat) participants focus on the issue at hand purely from the perspective of that hat. Contributions of a different nature must wait until the relevant hat is in play. In this way all participants focus in the same way from the same perspective on a topic, but do not stick in one way of thought, because the next round of discussion, they have to put on a different thinking hat.
So, in group discussions, it is essential that everyone uses the same hat (mode of thinking) at the same time. This is to avoid personal preferences and conflicts between modes of thinking.
I usually start with the red or the white hat. The red hat asking for the first emotional reaction a problem brings, the white hat asking for facts. The Yellow Hat asks for benefits, what are positive outcomes. The Black Hat asks for weaknesses, or potential negative consequences became apparent. What could go wrong? The Green hat asks for new possibilities, alternatives, or how could challenges be addressed differently. The Blue Hat aks about the process: What did we learn about the process, roles, or decision-making dynamics?
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