Introduction
Edward de Bono is a Maltese physician, psychologist, philosopher and author in the field of creativity and lateral thinking. One of the most famous concepts Edward de Bono brought to the world is his Six Thinking Hats. The Six Thinking Hats method (6TH) focuses on ideas and decisions, giving the users the ability to look at their thoughts and decisions in different ways. The hats can be used individually or as part of a group decision-making activity.
Six Thinking Hats
The concept of the 6TH is based on the idea of a metaphor in which the hats represent different points of view a person can take towards a given situation. De Bono suggests that the thinker can take on a different ‘hat’ in order to think differently and gain more insight from the process.
The six hats are:
White Hat
The white hat is known as the information hat. This hat is used for examining the data and facts related to a given decision or problem. It focuses on things like facts, information and analysis.
Red Hat
The red hat represents emotions. It focuses on feelings, hunches and intuition. The red hat allows us to explore our emotional reactions and feelings about a given problem.
Black Hat
The black hat is the devil’s advocate. It helps us to look at negative aspects of the problem. It is used to assess the risk, downfalls, and drawbacks of given solutions.
Yellow Hat
The yellow hat is the positive hat. Here we evaluate the benefits and positives of different solutions. We look at the positive outcomes and long term effects of particular solutions.
Green Hat
The green hat focuses on creativity. With the green hat, we can explore new ideas and develop creative solutions. Here we look at out-of-the-box solutions to the problem or decision.
Blue Hat
The blue hat is used to evaluate the entire process. It is used to ask questions about the different hats, reflect on the thinking process and keep track of the progress.
Conclusion
The Six Thinking Hats method created by Edward de Bono provides an excellent way to explore decision making and problem solving from multiple perspectives. It allows us to evaluate our decisions from different points of view and discover insights we may not have focused on otherwise. It encourages us to look at the positive and negative aspects of different solutions and to think in innovative ways. This method has been applied to many fields of business, including planning, management, problem-solving, decision-making and creativity. The 6TH is a powerful tool for approaching difficult situations.