Six Thinking Hats
Looking at a Decision from All Points of View
Six Thinking Hats' is a powerful technique that helps you look at important decisions from a number of different perspectives. It helps you make better decisions by pushing you to move outside your habitual ways of thinking. As such, it helps you understand the full complexity of the decision, and spot issues and opportunities to which you might otherwise be blind.If you look at a problem with the 'Six Thinking Hats' technique, then you will solve it using all approaches. Your decisions and plans will mix ambition, skill in execution, sensitivity, creativity and good contingency planning.
This tool was created by Edward de Bono in his book Hats. The method was invented in the early 1980s.
The six hats represent six modes of thinking and are directions to think rather than labels for thinking. That is, the hats are used proactively rather than reactively.
The method promotes fuller input from more people. In de Bono's words it "separates ego from performance". Everyone is able to contribute to the exploration without denting egos as they are just using the yellow hat or whatever hat. The six hats system encourages performance rather than ego defense. People can contribute under any hat even though they initially support the opposite view.
The key point is that a hat is a direction to think rather than a label for thinking. The key theoretical reasons to use the Six Thinking Hats are to:
encourage Parallel Thinking
encourage full-spectrum thinking
separate ego from performance
How to Use the Tool:
To use Six Thinking Hats to improve the quality of your decision-making, look at the decision 'wearing' each of the thinking hats in turn.
Each 'Thinking Hat' is a different style of thinking. These are explained below:
White Hat thinking
With this thinking hat, you focus on the data available. Look at the information you have, and see what you can learn from it. Look for gaps in your knowledge, and either try to fill them or take account of them.This covers facts, figures, information needs and gaps. "I think we need some white hat thinking at this point..." means lets drop the arguments and proposals, and look at the data base." Red Hat thinking
This covers intuition, feelings and emotions. The red hat allows the thinker to put forward an intuition without any need to justify it. "Putting on my red hat, I think this is a terrible proposal." Usually feelings and intuition can only be introduced into a discussion if they are supported by logic. Usually the feeling is genuine but the logic is spurious. The red hat gives full permission to a thinker to put forward his or her feelings on the subject at the moment. 'Wearing' the red hat, you look at the decision using intuition, gut reaction, and emotion. Also try to think how other people will react emotionally, and try to understand the intuitive responses of people who do not fully know your reasoning.
Black Hat thinking
This is the hat of judgment and caution. It is a most valuable hat. It is not in any sense an inferior or negative hat. The black hat is used to point out why a suggestion does not fit the facts, the available experience, the system in use, or the policy that is being followed. The black hat must always be logical. When using black hat thinking, look at things pessimistically, cautiously and defensively. Try to see why ideas and approaches might not work. This is important because it highlights the weak points in a plan or course of action. It allows you to eliminate them, alter your approach, or prepare contingency plans to counter problems that arise. Black Hat thinking helps to make your plans 'tougher' and more resilient. It can also help you to spot fatal flaws and risks before you embark on a course of action. Black Hat thinking is one of the real benefits of this technique, as many successful people get so used to thinking positively that often they cannot see problems in advance, leaving them under-prepared for difficulties.
Yellow Hat thinking
This is the logical positive. Why something will work and why it will offer benefits. It can be used in looking forward to the results of some proposed action, but can also be used to find something of value in what has already happened. The yellow hat helps you to think positively. It is the optimistic viewpoint that helps you to see all the benefits of the decision and the value in it, and spot the opportunities that arise from it. Yellow Hat thinking helps you to keep going when everything looks gloomy and difficult.
Green Hat thinking
This is the hat of creativity, alternatives, proposals, what is interesting, provocations and changes. This is where you can develop creative solutions to a problem. It is a freewheeling way of thinking, in which there is little criticism of ideas. A whole range of creativity tools can help you here.
Blue Hat thinking
This is the overview or process control hat. It looks not at the subject itself but at the 'thinking' about the subject. "Putting on my blue hat, I feel we should do some greener hat thinking at this point." In technical terms, the blue hat is concerned with meta-cognition. This is the hat worn by people chairing meetings. When running into difficulties because ideas are running dry, they may direct activity into Green Hat thinking. When contingency plans are needed, they will ask for Black Hat thinking, and so on.
Example 1.
The directors of a property company are looking at whether they should construct a new office building. The economy is doing well, and the amount of vacant office space is reducing sharply. As part of their decision they decide to use the 6 Thinking Hats technique during a planning meeting.
Looking at the problem with the White Hat, they analyze the data they have. They examine the trend in vacant office space, which shows a sharp reduction. They anticipate that by the time the office block would be completed, that there will be a severe shortage of office space. Current government projections show steady economic growth for at least the construction period.
With Red Hat thinking, some of the directors think the proposed building looks quite ugly. While it would be highly cost-effective, they worry that people would not like to work in it.
When they think with the Black Hat, they worry that government projections may be wrong. The economy may be about to enter a 'cyclical downturn', in which case the office building may be empty for a long time.
If the building is not attractive, then companies will choose to work in another better-looking building at the same rent.
With the Yellow Hat, however, if the economy holds up and their projections are correct, the company stands to make a great deal of money.
If they are lucky, maybe they could sell the building before the next downturn, or rent to tenants on long-term leases that will last through any recession.
With Green Hat thinking they consider whether they should change the design to make the building more pleasant. Perhaps they could build prestige offices that people would want to rent in any economic climate. Alternatively, maybe they should invest the money in the short term to buy up property at a low cost when a recession comes.
The Blue Hat has been used by the meeting's Chair to move between the different thinking styles. He or she may have needed to keep other members of the team from switching styles, or from criticizing other peoples' points.
It is well worth reading Edward de Bono's book 6 Thinking Hats for more information on this technique.
Example 2.
You can use the Six Thinking Hats in almost any problem solving activity that you might encounter in the classroom (or in life in general!) Here is an example of a problem solving exercise that I went through with my students two years ago. It’s a problem that many teachers will be able to relate to. What I've written below actually came out of the Six Hats problem solving process. The "Problem unity" that we examined was:
Students Talking While Others Are Talking Or Teaching
Using the Six Hats allowed my class to look at the problem from different angles. Use 6 pieces of chart paper (and the 6 different colors of felt pens) as you apply each hat.
White Hat: state the facts- students are talking when Mrs. Duck is talking - there is noise so that others are distracted or can't hear - students don't know what to do after Mrs. Duck has given directions - many students get silly or off task
Red Hat: states the emotions- Mrs. Duck feels offended- Students are frustrated because they can't hear directions - Those talking enjoy joking around and being heard
Black Hat: negative aspects- time is wasted- learning is compromised- those who legitimately have the floor feel that listeners don't care about what they are saying- chaos in the classroom
Yellow Hat: positives of the situation are examined - everyone gets to say what is on their mind - it can be fun- you don't have to wait until you speak and therefore don't forget what you what to say- not just the "smart" kids get to speak
Green Hat: creative ideas that come with seeing the problem in a new light- Mrs. Duck will be more aware of the amount of time that she "talks" - Mrs. Duck will try to include interaction from many different students, not just the "smart" kids- students will work on resisting the need to say everything that comes into their mind. They will ask themselves if this is "on topic" and" if this needs to be shared at this time. There needed to be further discussion on "how" students would work on this problem. - students will think about whether their comment will interfere with other people's learning- we will keep these charts up so that we can refer back to the learning of this moment and reassess how we are doing.
Blue Hat: Sum up what is learned- Mrs. Duck learned that she needs to limit the amount of time she uses "Talking" as a form of teaching- Mrs. Duck needs to involve all students in discussion. She needs to look for the one who rarely offers comments or is quietly waiting to be picked to answer.- Mrs. Duck needs to realize that some students need "think time" before they are ready to contribute to a discussion. Allowing time for these students to think is important part of class discussion so they don't tune out.- Students now realize that when they talk when others are talking it makes the person talking feel like a fool or unappreciated. - students realize that just to "get the laugh" of the moment, they are jeopardizing other people's learning- students learned that speaking whenever you want show a lack of self-discipline and that not everything that goes through our minds is worth sharing.- Teacher/student needs to revisit this topic and check how we are doing.
References:
http://www.members.optusnet.com.au/charles57/Creative/Techniques/sixhats.htm
http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newTED_07.htm
http://www.teachnet.com/how-to/manage/sixhats120800.html
Looking at a Decision from All Points of View
Six Thinking Hats' is a powerful technique that helps you look at important decisions from a number of different perspectives. It helps you make better decisions by pushing you to move outside your habitual ways of thinking. As such, it helps you understand the full complexity of the decision, and spot issues and opportunities to which you might otherwise be blind.If you look at a problem with the 'Six Thinking Hats' technique, then you will solve it using all approaches. Your decisions and plans will mix ambition, skill in execution, sensitivity, creativity and good contingency planning.
This tool was created by Edward de Bono in his book Hats. The method was invented in the early 1980s.
The six hats represent six modes of thinking and are directions to think rather than labels for thinking. That is, the hats are used proactively rather than reactively.
The method promotes fuller input from more people. In de Bono's words it "separates ego from performance". Everyone is able to contribute to the exploration without denting egos as they are just using the yellow hat or whatever hat. The six hats system encourages performance rather than ego defense. People can contribute under any hat even though they initially support the opposite view.
The key point is that a hat is a direction to think rather than a label for thinking. The key theoretical reasons to use the Six Thinking Hats are to:
encourage Parallel Thinking
encourage full-spectrum thinking
separate ego from performance
How to Use the Tool:
To use Six Thinking Hats to improve the quality of your decision-making, look at the decision 'wearing' each of the thinking hats in turn.
Each 'Thinking Hat' is a different style of thinking. These are explained below:
White Hat thinking
With this thinking hat, you focus on the data available. Look at the information you have, and see what you can learn from it. Look for gaps in your knowledge, and either try to fill them or take account of them.This covers facts, figures, information needs and gaps. "I think we need some white hat thinking at this point..." means lets drop the arguments and proposals, and look at the data base." Red Hat thinking
This covers intuition, feelings and emotions. The red hat allows the thinker to put forward an intuition without any need to justify it. "Putting on my red hat, I think this is a terrible proposal." Usually feelings and intuition can only be introduced into a discussion if they are supported by logic. Usually the feeling is genuine but the logic is spurious. The red hat gives full permission to a thinker to put forward his or her feelings on the subject at the moment. 'Wearing' the red hat, you look at the decision using intuition, gut reaction, and emotion. Also try to think how other people will react emotionally, and try to understand the intuitive responses of people who do not fully know your reasoning.
Black Hat thinking
This is the hat of judgment and caution. It is a most valuable hat. It is not in any sense an inferior or negative hat. The black hat is used to point out why a suggestion does not fit the facts, the available experience, the system in use, or the policy that is being followed. The black hat must always be logical. When using black hat thinking, look at things pessimistically, cautiously and defensively. Try to see why ideas and approaches might not work. This is important because it highlights the weak points in a plan or course of action. It allows you to eliminate them, alter your approach, or prepare contingency plans to counter problems that arise. Black Hat thinking helps to make your plans 'tougher' and more resilient. It can also help you to spot fatal flaws and risks before you embark on a course of action. Black Hat thinking is one of the real benefits of this technique, as many successful people get so used to thinking positively that often they cannot see problems in advance, leaving them under-prepared for difficulties.
Yellow Hat thinking
This is the logical positive. Why something will work and why it will offer benefits. It can be used in looking forward to the results of some proposed action, but can also be used to find something of value in what has already happened. The yellow hat helps you to think positively. It is the optimistic viewpoint that helps you to see all the benefits of the decision and the value in it, and spot the opportunities that arise from it. Yellow Hat thinking helps you to keep going when everything looks gloomy and difficult.
Green Hat thinking
This is the hat of creativity, alternatives, proposals, what is interesting, provocations and changes. This is where you can develop creative solutions to a problem. It is a freewheeling way of thinking, in which there is little criticism of ideas. A whole range of creativity tools can help you here.
Blue Hat thinking
This is the overview or process control hat. It looks not at the subject itself but at the 'thinking' about the subject. "Putting on my blue hat, I feel we should do some greener hat thinking at this point." In technical terms, the blue hat is concerned with meta-cognition. This is the hat worn by people chairing meetings. When running into difficulties because ideas are running dry, they may direct activity into Green Hat thinking. When contingency plans are needed, they will ask for Black Hat thinking, and so on.
Example 1.
The directors of a property company are looking at whether they should construct a new office building. The economy is doing well, and the amount of vacant office space is reducing sharply. As part of their decision they decide to use the 6 Thinking Hats technique during a planning meeting.
Looking at the problem with the White Hat, they analyze the data they have. They examine the trend in vacant office space, which shows a sharp reduction. They anticipate that by the time the office block would be completed, that there will be a severe shortage of office space. Current government projections show steady economic growth for at least the construction period.
With Red Hat thinking, some of the directors think the proposed building looks quite ugly. While it would be highly cost-effective, they worry that people would not like to work in it.
When they think with the Black Hat, they worry that government projections may be wrong. The economy may be about to enter a 'cyclical downturn', in which case the office building may be empty for a long time.
If the building is not attractive, then companies will choose to work in another better-looking building at the same rent.
With the Yellow Hat, however, if the economy holds up and their projections are correct, the company stands to make a great deal of money.
If they are lucky, maybe they could sell the building before the next downturn, or rent to tenants on long-term leases that will last through any recession.
With Green Hat thinking they consider whether they should change the design to make the building more pleasant. Perhaps they could build prestige offices that people would want to rent in any economic climate. Alternatively, maybe they should invest the money in the short term to buy up property at a low cost when a recession comes.
The Blue Hat has been used by the meeting's Chair to move between the different thinking styles. He or she may have needed to keep other members of the team from switching styles, or from criticizing other peoples' points.
It is well worth reading Edward de Bono's book 6 Thinking Hats for more information on this technique.
Example 2.
You can use the Six Thinking Hats in almost any problem solving activity that you might encounter in the classroom (or in life in general!) Here is an example of a problem solving exercise that I went through with my students two years ago. It’s a problem that many teachers will be able to relate to. What I've written below actually came out of the Six Hats problem solving process. The "Problem unity" that we examined was:
Students Talking While Others Are Talking Or Teaching
Using the Six Hats allowed my class to look at the problem from different angles. Use 6 pieces of chart paper (and the 6 different colors of felt pens) as you apply each hat.
White Hat: state the facts- students are talking when Mrs. Duck is talking - there is noise so that others are distracted or can't hear - students don't know what to do after Mrs. Duck has given directions - many students get silly or off task
Red Hat: states the emotions- Mrs. Duck feels offended- Students are frustrated because they can't hear directions - Those talking enjoy joking around and being heard
Black Hat: negative aspects- time is wasted- learning is compromised- those who legitimately have the floor feel that listeners don't care about what they are saying- chaos in the classroom
Yellow Hat: positives of the situation are examined - everyone gets to say what is on their mind - it can be fun- you don't have to wait until you speak and therefore don't forget what you what to say- not just the "smart" kids get to speak
Green Hat: creative ideas that come with seeing the problem in a new light- Mrs. Duck will be more aware of the amount of time that she "talks" - Mrs. Duck will try to include interaction from many different students, not just the "smart" kids- students will work on resisting the need to say everything that comes into their mind. They will ask themselves if this is "on topic" and" if this needs to be shared at this time. There needed to be further discussion on "how" students would work on this problem. - students will think about whether their comment will interfere with other people's learning- we will keep these charts up so that we can refer back to the learning of this moment and reassess how we are doing.
Blue Hat: Sum up what is learned- Mrs. Duck learned that she needs to limit the amount of time she uses "Talking" as a form of teaching- Mrs. Duck needs to involve all students in discussion. She needs to look for the one who rarely offers comments or is quietly waiting to be picked to answer.- Mrs. Duck needs to realize that some students need "think time" before they are ready to contribute to a discussion. Allowing time for these students to think is important part of class discussion so they don't tune out.- Students now realize that when they talk when others are talking it makes the person talking feel like a fool or unappreciated. - students realize that just to "get the laugh" of the moment, they are jeopardizing other people's learning- students learned that speaking whenever you want show a lack of self-discipline and that not everything that goes through our minds is worth sharing.- Teacher/student needs to revisit this topic and check how we are doing.
References:
http://www.members.optusnet.com.au/charles57/Creative/Techniques/sixhats.htm
http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newTED_07.htm
http://www.teachnet.com/how-to/manage/sixhats120800.html
3 comments:
wow....it nees a lot of reading....can you simplified it for me?????? peace for the world...DATTEBAYO!!!!
sure can... =)
too complicated lor.. can u make i simple for me a??
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