UsingEdward De Bono’s

Six Thinking Hats

to help decision-making

and problem-solving

The Red Hat

• What do you feel about the suggestion?

• What are your gut reactions?• What are your intuitions?• Don’t think too long or too hard.

Emotions, feelings, gut reactions

The White Hat

• The information seeking hat.• What facts and information are

available? What is relevant?• When wearing the white hat, keep your

thinking neutral.

Concerned with facts and figures

The Yellow Hat

• It takes a positive outlook.• It is constructive and wants to get the

job done.• It looks for the benefits and advantages.

The sunshine hat

The Black Hat

• Use this hat to look out for problems or pit-falls.

• What are the risks or dangers involved?• This hat might play ‘devil’s advocate’.

The caution hat

• Use this hat for creative thinking.• Look for fresh new ideas and solutions.• Try lateral thinking – looking at things in

a new way.

The Green Hat

Green means growth and creation

• This hat is for organising your thinking.

• It sets the focus, calls for the use of other hats.

• Use this hat to monitor and reflect.• Blue is for planning.

The Blue Hat

The planning and control hat

Six Thinking Hats

Reflective

Creative

Cautious

Intuitive

Informative Constructive