Six Thinking Hats
(de Bono)

Knowledge Center

The Six Thinking Hats technique of Edward de Bono is a model that can be used for exploring different perspectives towards a complex situation or challenge. Seeing things in various ways is often a good idea in strategy formation or complex decision-making processes.

Purposes of 6 Thinking Hats

• Simplify thinking by allowing one to deal with one thing at a time. De Bono identified six styles of thinking and assigned a color to each one. One thinking style is not inherently better than another; it's just a different way of looking at something.
• Allow switching in thinking from one style to another. He likened switching to putting on and taking off a hat. The combination of colors and hats provides an idiom that instructs how to think without being offensive. By turning thinking into role-playing with simple rules, it does not threaten a person's ego or personality.

The Six Thinking Hats Colors

Each of the Hats is named for a color that is mnemonically descriptive of the perspective one adopts when wearing the particular hat. For example the devil's advocacy is what one engages in when wearing the Black Thinking Hat.

• White Hat (think of a sheet of paper): FACTS and FIGURES; neutral and objective view; focus on information available, what info is needed, how it might be obtained.

• Red Hat (think of fire, warmth): EMOTIONS, FEELINGS, intuition, hunches; focus on quickly expressing without explanation nor justification required.

• Black Hat (think of a stern judge wearing black robe): LOGICAL NEGATIVE support; focus on pessimism, why something is wrong, being judgmental and critical.

• Yellow Hat (think of sunshine): LOGICAL POSITIVE support; focus on optimism, benefits, what's good, being constructive.

• Green Hat (think of growing plants): CREATIVE and LATERAL thinking; focus on change, innovation, invention; new ideas, possibilities, concepts, perceptions, paradigms.

• Blue Hat (think of the sky, cool): CONTROL of THINKING PROCESS; focus on thinking about thinking, overview; being cool and in control of the overall process and use of other hats.

De Bono's hats are indicative of both emotional states as well as frames of mind (i.e., perspective from which an issue is viewed). He noted: "Emotions are an essential part of our thinking ability and not just something extra that mucks up our thinking" (1985, p27). One thinking style (or hat) is not inherently "better" than another. A full, balanced team recognizes the need for all hats in order for the team to consider all aspects of whatever issues they are facing.

When to Use the Six Thinking Hats. Applications

• Individual use: Consciously using one hat or another for every thinking moment is overkill. 6TH is for occasional usage when a person may want to sort out one's thoughts by putting on a particular hat. To handle a more difficult or complex issue, a formal structured sequence would be laid out beforehand.
• Group use: De Bono calls the act of deliberately having everyone wear the same hat at the same time Parallel Thinking. Topics are explored together factually and emotionally. It is a vast improvement over traditional adversarial thinking where people take sides and argue back and forth hoping that some useful outcome will emerge.
• Note that 6TH is not a labeling exercise. Example: "He is in Accounting and is a Black Hat thinker." or "Those Marketing guys only think with the Yellow Hat on." The hats are categories of thinking behavior and not of people themselves.
• Good thinkers are comfortable wearing all six hats and learn to easily switch them. Parallel Thinking calls for everyone to contribute under each hat.

Main Benefits of Six Thinking Hats. Advantages

1. Allows one to say things without risk. Very strong in preventing the Spiral of Silence.
2. Create awareness that there are multiple perspectives on the issue at hand
3. Provides a convenient mechanism for 'switching gears', thinking in deliberate different ways
4. Set rules for the game of thinking
5. Temporarily focus thinking on one aspect
6. Helps individuals expand their thinking capacity by adopting a perspective that is not necessarily their own
7. Leads to more creative thinking through unhampered dialogue that builds on each other's contributions
8. Improves communication, since egos are not threatened and people are never personally attacked
9. Improves decision making, because attention is given to all aspects of a problem/opportunity (pros, cons, gains, risks, etc.)

Typical Steps in a Six Thinking Hats Workshop. Process

The Hats may be used in many different sequences depending on the nature of the issue. But here is a typical agenda for a situation where a problem has just surfaced and a fix is needed within the next half hour. The team leader will facilitate by wearing the Blue Hat and lead the team of 5 workers through the thinking process.

1. Blue Hat (2 mins): State purpose of the meeting and expected outcome. Show hat sequence and time limits to be used.
2. White Hat (10 mins): Present the facts of the problem.
3. Green Hat (3 mins): Generate ideas on possible solutions.
4. Red Hat (10 secs): Using intuition, vote with hands on the most practical solution from the list.
5. Yellow Hat (3 mins): Identify the benefits of the solution picked.
6. Black Hat (3 mins): List the drawbacks and risks.
7. Red Hat (10 secs): Get everybody's "Go/ No Go" gut feeling.
8. Green Hat (3 mins): Identify means to overcome concerns raised under the Black Hat.
9. Blue Hat (5 mins): Summarize and create an action plan. Adjourn the meeting.

Forum Forum discussions about the Six Thinking Hats. Techniques for Real Dialogue in Organisations How does one get people to see the difference between advocacy and dialogue? Many conversations that take place in organisations are designed to have (or at least result in having) a winner i.e. "My a... 21   9 comments Six Thinking Hats is Parallel Thinking The Six Hats method is one simple and practical example of carrying out 'Parallel Thinking', described first by de Bono in his book with the same name. (published by Viking, London and Penguin Books, ... 14   Instilling Constructive Participation: 15-minute Soliloquy Another complementary possibility (besides the Six Thinking Hats) to instill constructive participation is to allow each member of the group on separate days to lead the discussion in the form of a fi... 11   2 comments View Response to COVID-19 Wearing Six Thinking Hats The amount of information, misinformation, and disinformation about COVID-19 is overwhelming and frightening. But it's not surprising. The current pandemic is a complex wicked problem where everyone s... 9   5 comments Six Hats Great for Teaching at University I am using a modified version of the 6 thinking hats when teaching at the university. And it works very well. The students are not afraid of saying things because they are just playing a role...... 9   4 comments Everybody Should Wear More Than 1 Hat I think every individual on the discussion could take a different role at a time (per session). Or maybe should. But the point is they should never use only one hat. If they use only one hat, then the... 9   1 comments Switching Hats by Top Managers People at the top of the organisation on most occasions wear just one of these hats. It would be interesting to see more top level people switching around hats. By doing so they may see a broader pers... 8   1 comments Business Conflict Resolution Under an earlier forum topic entitled "Resolving a Business Argument", there was a great discussion using Six Thinking Hats. This posting is a more advanced version and describes how Stephen Covey's 7... 8   2 comments Seventh Thinking Hat: Grey for Wisdom Educator Michael Hewitt-Gleeson has suggested to add a 7th thinking hat: the Grey Hat for Wisdom. Why the colour grey? Grey-haired seniors due to their time on earth gather a lot of wisdom, a combina... 7   1 comments Distorted Western Adversarial Thinking A colleague recently shared a story that Edward De Bono told him at a lunch meeting. Apparently Edward was approached by a lawyer who asked: "How can I use Six Thinking Hats to argue and win my case i... 7   2 comments Tools to Consider Multiple Perspectives Besides the 6 Thinking Hats, another great tool to explore many perspectives is the Thinker's Keys by Ryan. This tool makes you or a group of people ask and answer a number of questions about an issue... 7   1 comments Avoiding Groupthink with 6 Thinking Hats Process Kennedy appeared to use this process in his decision making during 13 days in the Cuba crisis.... 6   1 comments Six Hats really great It is a really great way of developing & generating thinking concepts in a way that guarantees positive results.... 6   Can Myers-Briggs Type Indicator Improve Thinking? Suggestions have been made to use psychological instruments such as Myers-Briggs Type Indicator as an aid in resolving business arguments with difficult people. The aim of MBTI is to identify the bas... 5   1 comments Current Status of Six Thinking Hats? Hot News On Friday, May 18, 2012, Edward De Bono was the keynote speaker at the FinanceMalta annual conference. "Thinking skills expert Edward De Bono shared anecdotes and some jokes to demonstrate the effec... 5   2 comments The Role of the Group Facilitator in Six Thinking Hats The role of the group facilitator is very important: he distributes the hats and chooses the debate orientation to explore the problem. All other participants have to folllow him. The above scheme is... 4   Conditions for 6 Thinking Hats. Assumptions Having just completed the De Bono 6 hats course, I can honestly say it is a good tool if administered, not only in a mature organizational environment, but crucially, an environment where there is TRU... 4   Six Thinking Hats for Instructional Design UPSIDE Learning has provided an interesting example of applying the six thinking hats for instructional design (link). The authors have chosen the following hat sequence: White, Black, Red, Green, Yel... 4   1 comments Six Thinking Hats for Software Testing at Google Our testing is only as good as our thinking--and all too often we are hampered by limiting ideas, poor communication, and pre-set roles and responsibilities. Based on the work of Edward de Bono, the S... 3   Six Hats Certification I live in Sweden and work with process management. I have already worked with the "Six Thinking Hats" model which I believe is fantastic. Now I would like to learn the method even deeper and also ge... 3   1 comments Additional 7th Thinking Hat? A potential seventh thinking hat could be an Orange Hat: thinking of moving forward in a such way as climbing a ladder of successes, SMART leadership, result-oriented.... 3   1 comments How to Facilitate Mutual Understanding and Conflict Resolution Conflict resolution means the reduction, elimination, or termination of opposing views. Interest-based negotiation and mutual bargaining are win-win conflict resolution methods. Don’t feel that a con... 3   Edward de Bono Obituary Edward de Bono died on June 09, 2021. He was 88. De Bono was a highly respected authority on creative thinking with an interest in the mind and its method of organizing information such as Six Thinkin... 3   1 comments 🔥 Edward de Bono Stole Six Hats Edward de Bono stole Six Hats from Gleeson added Grey Cap for Wisdom see my page seventhinkingcaps.com.au/grey-cap-wisdom/.... 1   3 comments Six Thinking Hats is Great for Exploring All Points of View I think that the six thinking hats is a good method to make sense and authorize all the thinking of the peoples in meeting. Each answer is always a good answer and gives value for everyone. Also it i... 1   Start a new topic about the Six Thinking Hats Sign up for free

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Best Practices The best, top-rated topics about the Six Thinking Hats. Here you will find the most valuable ideas and practical suggestions. 🥇 Resolving a Business Argument We've all been in arguments, such as when one person wants to proceed with something, but the other wants to stop. A resolution requires empathic listening, the ability to put yourself in the "other ... 47   57 comments 🥈 Clarification: Team Process Keep in mind that all members of the team wear the same hat at the same time. For the method to be successful, team members need to feel ownership for thinking according to the "current hat." The blue... 46   🥉 Examples of Using Six Hats Thinking Please give more examples about the 6 hats in different industries, especialy the IT field.... 34   4 comments Situational Thinking Hats? While each of us typically wears one of these same six hats, we do not realise it. I am wondering: can a manager at different stages wear each of them seperately to suit the situation?... 34   5 comments Telecom Example of Six Thinking Hats If a live subject can be discussed so that it is more clear how to use the Six Hat Thinking. May be some case from Telecom Industry. Thanks...... 24   1 comments Wearing the Blue Hat One 'rule' no-one has mentioned: when using the six thinking hats for a group thinking session or meeting - while there maybe one person designated as the facilitator and that person would be expected... 20   2 comments Challenging Plans or Ideas: The Ritual Dissent Approach When facilitating strategic planning sessions, I often will use a Cognitive-Edge Inc. workshop method called: 'Ritual Dissent'. It is designed to test and enhance proposals, ideas, plans through chal... 14   6 comments 6 Thinking Hats are Rubbish De Bono's 'Lateral thinking' was great stuff! The 'Thinking Hats' (and 'Different Kinds of Shoes', if I remember right) were rubbish, I'm afraid. Can justify in detail if required.... 13   16 comments Systematic, Deliberate Thinking is not Easy to Do Your friend Joe calls you to say a recruiter from another company has unexpectedly called and presented him with a very attractive offer to head up a new department. He almost said yes right away, but... 13   2 comments Taking Advantage of Conflicts in Group Decision Making In past research it was often argued that group decision making (GDM) improves if task-conflicts are present. Task-conflicts are different opinions about the content and outcomes of the task being p... 8   30 comments Six Hats is Universally Applicable The Six Hats concept is civilized, nonconfrontational, democratic, modern and universally acceptable for the right ideas to prevail and common sense to unite the human race and absolute human truth th... 8   3 comments

Expert Tips Advanced insights about the Six Thinking Hats. Here you will find professional advices by experts. Consultancy Tips Teaching Tips Practical Implementation Tips The Advantages of Group Decision-Making Group Decision-Making The benefits of group decision-making include: - Synergy: Group decisions tend to combine and improve on the knowledge... Checklist to Evaluate Ideas Brainstorming, Creativity Princeton Creativity Research has developed the following 12 steps checklist to accurately evaluate ideas: 1. Have you ... The Disadvantages of Group Decision-Making Group Decision-Making The drawbacks of group decision-making include: - Longer time frame: Groups generally need more time to make decisions ... 3 Causes of Disagreement in Team Decision-making Processes Group Decision-making, Team Decision-making, Reasons for Disagreement, 3 Fs, Group Collaboration According to Freeman and Haskins (2014), there are three main categories of potential root causes for disagreements with... Brainstorming Sensitive Issues / Brainstorming Avoiding Groupthink Brainstorming Variants, Brainstorming Cardstorming is a creativity tool, similar to Brainstorming, allowing people to share ideas. It can be used as an altern... Concise Biography of Edward de Bono STH Background Italian-American psychologist Edward de Bono is seen as a worldwide recognized authority in creative thinking domain. Bo... The Role of Diversity in Personal Traits on Innovation and Innovativeness Innovation, Increasing Organizational Innovativeness New research by Hewlett, Marshall and Sherbin proves that diversity (of personal and team traits) drives innovation and ...

Information Sources Various sources of information regarding the Six Thinking Hats. Here you will find powerpoints, videos, news, etc. to use in your own lectures and workshops. Six Thinking Hats Short Presentation Another presentation introducing the various hats and their uses.... Overview Presentation Explaining the Technique Presentation introduces the various hats and their uses... Applying Creative Thinking to Complex Business Problem Solving Creative Thinking, Problem Solving, Complex Problem Solving Techniques This presentation focuses on creative thinking as a useful tool for dealing with complex business issues. It includes th... Interview E. de Bono on Parallel Thinking and the 6 Thinking Hats Initial Understanding of the 6 Thinking Hats in Trainings, Workshops E. de Bono describes the basics of his six thinking hats model and why it is a superior alternative to traditional ARGUM... Group Conflicts, Group Cohesion and Groupthink in Decision Making Group Decision Making, Conflicts in Groups, Cohesion of Groups, Groupthink Presentation about conflicts and cohesion in groups, and how it influences decision making. The presentation includes th... Individual Decision Making and Group Decision Making Decision Making Process, Groupthink, Decision Making Styles, Vroom-Yetton Method Presentation about Decision Making by groups and individuals. The presentation includes the following sections: 1. Know... Group Decision Making: Using Team Conflict to Drive Performance Group Decison Making, Group Dynamics, Conflict Management, Team Conflicts Mark de Rond of Judge Business School explains why and how we should get more comfortable with team conflicts. Many peo... Increasing Group Participation: The 3 I's of Participation Increase Participation in Groups (Workshops, Trainings, Project Teams) Steve Davis explains his model to increase Group Participation. There are three types of participation: 1. Physical ... Benefits of the 6 Thinking Hats Initial Understanding of Benefits of the 6 Thinking Hats Overview of the benefits of the 6 thinking hats. Explains how Edward de Bono's Six Thinking Hats process saves time and ... Six Thinking Hats Diagram Exploring Different Perspectives Download and edit this 12manage PowerPoint graphic for limited personal, educational and business use. Republishing in ...

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