Six Thinking Hats

Author: Edward de Bono
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2002-07-01
Features: What truly brought Edward de Bono's lateral thinking theory recognition, promotion, and application was a thinking method and training model he developed based on this theory: Six Thinking Hats. He believed that when people stand from different angles and insist that their own views are correct, discussions become ineffective. A meeting can easily turn into an antagonistic debate. The two sides in the argument typically lock themselves into their positions, being more interested in whether they win or lose than in exploring the issue. If someone disagrees with an idea, they won’t make an effort to find arguments in favor of it—and vice versa. Therefore, only by separating the thinker's personal attitude from their thinking methods can discussions become effective. The Six Thinking Hats method separates different aspects of thinking and analyzes and discusses different sides of the issue in turn, aiming to find the correct approach to solve the problem. The six different colors represent six aspects of discussing the same issue.
White Hat: Objective examination of facts and information;
Red Hat: Analyzing feelings and intuitive rationality;
Black Hat: Discussing risks;
Yellow Hat: Analyzing benefits;
Green Hat: Generating new ideas;
Blue Hat: Managing the thinking process.
The chairperson (the person wearing the "Blue Hat") can ask participants to wear the same colored "hat" to provide opinions on one aspect of the issue. For example, when everyone is wearing the "Yellow Hat," even those who disagree with a certain viewpoint must make an effort to explore the potential advantages of that viewpoint. This thinking management tool thus avoids criticism, debate, and opposition, while being constructive, design-oriented, and innovative. Many world-renowned large companies, such as Microsoft, Motorola, Panasonic, McDonald's, IBM, DuPont, Boeing, and Ericsson, use this method to train managers at all levels.