The parallel thinking of the Six Thinking Hats is used successfully in:

* Group facilitation
* Getting everyone focused
* Improving team productivity, communication & workplace culture
* Getting everyone thinking in the same direction without losing diversity of view
* Enhancing creativity
* Organising thinking to make better decisions & solve problems
* Reducing the time we spend in meetings
* Saving Time & $$$

People and organisations are seeking improvement and quality in most areas except in the most important of areas – the quality of our thinking. If we can improve the quality of our thinking, the actions that follow that thinking will also improve.

The Six Thinking Hats is a thinking technique developed by Edward de Bono, which is used to look at issues from multiple perspectives. It forces us to move outside our habitual thinking style and develop a more rounded view of a given situation.

 

 

 

White Facts, figures and information that is known or needed.

Black Logical critical thinking, judging and playing devil’s advocate, points out weakness and why something may not work.

Blue Controls use of the other Hats and keeps thinking on track.

Red Emotions and feelings, hunches and intuition.

Green Creativity and new ideas, possibilities and alternatives, including Lateral Thinking.

Yellow Benefits and feasibility, constructive and optimistic input. What is the underlying concept? Why something may work.

The Hats promote fuller input from more people and significantly reduce argument from those with divergent points of view. With this adversarial approach removed the amount of time taken to conduct a meeting can be significantly reduced. People can contribute under any Hat even though they support the opposite view. The Six Hats encourage co-operation, exploration and greater creativity by getting everyone thinking in parallel.

The methods are being successfully applied where demanding and complex times call for thinking that goes beyond the traditional critical, logical and argument.

Training can be designed for groups of any size and is conducted over a one day with a second day for those wishing to become a Blue Hat Facilitator. A work-based assessment is also provided to ensure that learnings are applied and benefits realised in the workplace.

The Six Thinking Hats