The Six Thinking Hats

in Detail

The Blue Hat

• FACILITATOR ROLE• The role of the facilitator• Focuses and refocuses thinking• Makes calls for the group to make decisions

The Blue Hat

The Blue Hat

• Questions– How do we sequence the events– Explain? Summarize.– What is your conclusion?– What next? Action plan?– What is the main idea?– What was the problem? How was it solved?

The Blue Hat

• Describe a typical meeting• _____________________________• _____________________________• _____________________________• _____________________________• _____________________________• _____________________________

The Blue Hat

• Which of your meetings would benefit from the Six Thinking Hats framework?

• _____________________________• _____________________________• _____________________________• _____________________________• _____________________________• _____________________________

The Blue Hat

TECHNIQUE:Choose the right hat or tool

TIME:Set limits and work within them

FOCUS:Decide on what you what to think about

The Blue Hat

• CREATIVE HIT LIST– List three areas where you need new ideas– Try not to think about problems– Look for opportunities– Develop a focus statement for each starting

with “how to …”– Focus 1: _______________________– Focus 2: _______________________– Focus 3: _______________________

The White Hat

The White Hat

• FACTS AND LOGIC• Separates fact from speculation• Specifies action needed to fill gaps• Assesses the relevance and accuracy of information

The White Hat

• Questions– Who, what, when, where?– What do you know about?– What are the facts about?– What do you need or want to know about?– Where might you go to find out about?

The White Hat

• In White Hat mode, think about one of the following …

– Focus 1: Traffic Congestion– Focus 2: Noise Pollution– Focus 3: Human Nutrition

The White Hat

• Here are some questions to help you focus on the white hat:• What do we know?• What do we need to know?• Where are we going to get the information we

need to know?• What OPVs should we consider? Who are these

people and what are their views?

The Red Hat

• EMOTIONS AND FEELINGS• Gives permission to express feelings, hunches

and intuitions• Can be used to help make a decision• Does not require justification or explanation• Limited to 30 seconds or less• Best expressed in a word or two

The Red Hat

The Red Hat

• Questions– What are you feeling now?– Did your feelings change? How?– What prejudices are present?– What is your hunch about?– What does your intuition tell you?– Which way do you like based on your feelings?

The Red Hat

• How do you currently manage your feelings?• _____________________________• _____________________________• _____________________________• _____________________________• _____________________________

The Red Hat

• How are emotions dealt with on your team?• _____________________________• _____________________________• _____________________________• _____________________________• _____________________________

The Red Hat

• How do you feel about?– Flexitime at work– Legalizing marijuana– Bungee jumping team exercise– Mandatory retirement at 55– Eliminating titles at work– Banning smoking everywhere– Cloning humans

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The Red Hat

• Sorting ideas using the red hat

– What ideas are most interesting to me?– What ideas have most potential?– What ideas do I thinking are boldest?

The Red Hat

• Group using the ABC Sorting technique

– A: Which ideas could we ACT on right now?– B: What ideas are BEGINNING ideas?– C: What ideas are CONCEPTS (broad ideas)?

The Yellow Hat

The Yellow Hat• LOGICAL POSITIVES• Explores the benefits of an idea• Must give reasons why an idea is valuable or might work• Reinforces creative ideas and new directions

The Yellow Hat

• Questions– What are the benefits?– What is good about?– What is a positive outcomes?– What is the value?– Can this be made to work? Explain.– What did you like about?

The Yellow Hat

• What are the benefits of?

– Focus 1: Birthdays only when deserved– Focus 2: Weekly 24hr broadcasting ban– Focus 3: An unreliable friend– Focus 4: Black toothpaste

The Black Hat

The Black Hat

• LOGICAL NEGATIVES• Explores why an idea may not work• Must give logical reasons for concerns• Points out difficulties

The Black Hat

• Questions– What should you be cautious about?– What are the consequences of?– What were the difficulties of?– Why won’t/didn’t this work?– What did you dislike about?– What are the risks of?

The Black Hat

• Is there someone you work with who tends to overuse black hat thinking? What is the impact?

• _____________________________• _____________________________• _____________________________• _____________________________

The Black Hat

• What are the downsides, both existing and potential of?

– Focus 1: World-wide smoking ban– Focus 2: Identity card schemes– Focus 3: Making poverty history– Focus 4: Electronic tagging for everyone

The Green Hat

The Green Hat

• CREATIVTITY AND IMAGINATION• Encourages a search for new ideas• Seeks to modify and removes faults from existing ideas• Makes time for creative effort

The Green Hat

• Questions– What if?– What is good about?– What is the value of?– How can we make this work?– What are the alternatives?– What else can we do?

The Green Hat

• What is holding your team back from being creative? (Creative Barriers)

• ____________________________• ____________________________• ____________________________• ____________________________• ____________________________

The Green Hat

• Thinking of other uses for:

• Balloon Golf Tee___________________ ______________________________________ ______________________________________ ___________________

• Toothbrush Paperclip___________________ ______________________________________ ______________________________________ ___________________

The Green Hat

• Thinking of other uses for:

• Balloon Golf Tee____Shower Cap_____ _____Toothpick__________Traffic Sign_____ _____paper Holder________Scarecrow______ ___________________

• Toothbrush Paperclip____Silver Cleaner____ ___Popping discs_________Paint Cleaner_____ _____Jewellery_________________________ ___________________

The Green Hat

• The Three Ps

– Positive: Every idea is potentially valuable, record all

– Prolific: The more ideas the better, build ideas on each other

– Playful: It is easier to tame a wild idea, than make a boring idea interesting

The Green Hat

• Generate Ideas on

• Focus 1: Reducing traffic congestion• Focus 2: Increasing leisure time

The Six Thinking Hats

• Which hat is?• “Retooling will take a minimum of six months”• “I am unhappy with the merger”• “Our product is the most expensive on the market”• “It will increase our profile in the community”• “Low staff morale is causing high attrition”• “The meeting seems to be drifting”• “Joe told me he was worried about a staff issue”• “We tried that and the staff are not supportive”• “It would be easy to implement a new logo”• “We could offer two for the price of one• “I am concerned about staff morale• “Are we ready to commit to a decision?”

The Six Thinking Hats

• Which hat is? – my ideas• “Retooling will take a minimum of six months”• “I am unhappy with the merger”• “Our product is the most expensive on the market”• “It will increase our profile in the community”• “Low staff morale is causing high attrition”• “The meeting seems to be drifting”• “Joe told me he was worried about a staff issue”• “We tried that and the staff are not supportive”• “It would be easy to implement a new logo”• “We could offer two for the price of one• “I am concerned about staff morale• “Are we ready to commit to a decision?”

The Six Thinking Hats

FOCUS

Information & DataNeutral and objectiveChecked and believed factsMissing information & Where to source it

Managing the ThinkingSetting the focusMaking summariesOverviews & conclusionsAction Plans

Why it may not workCautions * DangersProblems * FaultsLogical reasons must be given

Why it may workValues * Benefits(both known and potential)Logical reasons must be given

Creative ThinkingPossibilities * AlternativesNew Ideas * New ThinkingOvercome black hat issuesReinforce yellow hat issues

Feelings and IntuitionEmotions and hunchesNo reasons or justifications“At this point”Keep it short