Traditional Thinking

Describe you current

style of thinking

___________________________
___________________________
___________________________
___________________________
___________________________
___________________________

Describe you current

style of thinking - example

Logical and analytical

Somewhat creative
Like to talk things out
Bounce ideas off people

What are your

thinking strengths?

___________________________
___________________________
___________________________
___________________________
___________________________
___________________________

What are your

thinking strengths? - example

Good problem solver

Good team worker
Fun thinker

What are your

thinking weaknesses?

___________________________
___________________________
___________________________
___________________________
___________________________
___________________________

What are your

thinking weaknesses? - example

Not very lateral

Not good at being critical
Not good at overviews
Sometimes miss big picture of
sequencing

How is it working for you?

___________________________
___________________________
___________________________
___________________________
___________________________
___________________________

How is it working for you?

-example

Fine at the moment

Always room for improvement
Often miss the obvious

Where do you do
your best thinking?

___________________________
___________________________
___________________________
___________________________
___________________________
___________________________

Where do you do
your best thinking? - example

In the shower
In my dreams

In your group, do some

thinking around

Pick any two of the following to focus on;

Banning high fat foods

Everyone wears a lie detector
Pavement Proficiency licence
All cars painted yellow
Banning vehicles from the city centre
Marriage renewed every five years
Everyone is entitled to one-year sabbatical

In your group, do some

thinking around

Write down where you focused your thinking

___________________________
___________________________
___________________________
___________________________
___________________________
___________________________

Now individually

Write down any observations you have

regarding the thinking behaviours of
the group.
___________________________
___________________________
___________________________
___________________________

The Six Thinking Hats

Edward de Bono

Edward de Bono has written 65 books with translations in

37 languages. He has been invited to work in 52
countries.He was born in Malta and graduated from the
University of Malta. He proceeded as a Rhodes Scholar
to Oxford and has held appointments at the Universities
of Oxford, Cambridge, London and Harvard.

Dr de Bono is the originator of the term 'lateral thinking'

which now has an official entry in the Oxford English
Dictionary. He is regarded as the leading international
authority in conceptual and creative thinking, and also the
direct teaching of thinking as a skill.

Thinking is a skill, that is all

about using what youve got

Thinking is a skill, that is all

about using what youve got

An excellent driver will get great

performance, even out of a banger.

Thinking is a skill, that is all

about using what youve got
A poor driver wont get a good
perfomance out of a great car.

An excellent driver will get great

performance, even out of a banger.

Thinking is a skill, that is all

about using what youve got
A very intelligent person with bad
thinking skills wont be creative.

A person of average intelligence with

good thinking skills can be very creative.

The Six Thinking Hats

Traditional Meeting

Parallel Thinking

Parallel Thinking

Parallel Thinking

Parallel Thinking

Parallel Thinking

The Six Thinking Hats

Each hat represents a perspective or

way of thinking
They are metaphorical hats that a
thinker can put on or take off to
indicate the type of thinking they are
using

The Six Thinking Hats

In a group we can ask members to put

on different hats in a sequence to aid
the problem solving process
This can help overcome the problem
of each group member adopting
random positions at random times

The Six Thinking Hats

It also permits us to control people

who insist of sticking to one
perspective - we can ask them to
assume a different hat
Many major international organisations
use this technique for problem solving

The Six Thinking Hats

Managing the Thinking
Setting the focus
Making summaries
Overviews & conclusions
Action Plans
Blue Hat

FOCUS

The Six Thinking Hats

Managing the Thinking
Setting the focus
Making summaries
Overviews & conclusions
Action Plans
Blue Hat

Black Hat

Why it may not work

Cautions * Dangers
Problems * Faults
Logical reasons
must be given

FOCUS

The Six Thinking Hats

Managing the Thinking
Setting the focus
Making summaries
Overviews & conclusions
Action Plans
Blue Hat

Black Hat

Why it may not work

Cautions * Dangers
Problems * Faults
Logical reasons
must be given

FOCUS
Feelings and Intuition
Emotions and hunches
No reasons or justifications
At this point
Keep it short
Red Hat

The Six Thinking Hats

Managing the Thinking
Setting the focus
Making summaries
Overviews & conclusions
Action Plans
Blue Hat

Black Hat

Why it may not work

Cautions * Dangers
Problems * Faults
Logical reasons
must be given

FOCUS
Feelings and Intuition

Green Hat

Emotions and hunches

No reasons or justifications
At this point
Keep it short

Creative Thinking
Possibilities * Alternatives
New Ideas * New Thinking
Overcome black hat issues
Reinforce yellow hat issues

Red Hat

The Six Thinking Hats

Managing the Thinking
Setting the focus
Making summaries
Overviews & conclusions
Action Plans
Blue Hat

Black Hat

Why it may not work

Cautions * Dangers
Problems * Faults
Logical reasons
must be given

FOCUS
Why it may work

Feelings and Intuition

Values * Benefits
(both known and potential)
Logical reasons
must be given

Emotions and hunches

No reasons or justifications
At this point
Keep it short

Yellow Hat

Green Hat

Creative Thinking
Possibilities * Alternatives
New Ideas * New Thinking
Overcome black hat issues
Reinforce yellow hat issues

Red Hat

The Six Thinking Hats

Managing the Thinking

White Hat

Setting the focus

Making summaries
Overviews & conclusions
Action Plans
Blue Hat

Information & Data

Black Hat

Why it may not work

Cautions * Dangers
Problems * Faults
Logical reasons
must be given

Neutral and objective

Checked and believed facts
Missing information &
Where to source it

FOCUS
Why it may work

Feelings and Intuition

Values * Benefits
(both known and potential)
Logical reasons
must be given

Emotions and hunches

No reasons or justifications
At this point
Keep it short

Yellow Hat

Green Hat

Creative Thinking
Possibilities * Alternatives
New Ideas * New Thinking
Overcome black hat issues
Reinforce yellow hat issues

Red Hat

The Six Thinking Hats

Managing the Thinking

Blue Hat

Information & Data

Who, what, when, where?
What do you know about?
What are the facts about?
What do you need to know?
Where do you locate this?

Black Hat

Why it may not work

What are the risks of?
Why wont/didnt this work?
What were the difficulties of?
What are the consequences of?
What should you be cautious about?

FOCUS
Why it may work
What are the benefits?
What is good about?
What is a positive outcomes?
What is the value?
Can this be made to work?

Yellow Hat

Feelings and Intuition

Green Hat

What does your intuition tell you?

Did your feelings change? How?
What prejudices are present?
What are you feeling now?
What is your hunch about?

Creative Thinking
What if?
What is good about?
What else can we do?
What is the value of?
How can we make this work?
What are the alternatives?

Red Hat

Questions

Questions

White Hat

How do we sequence the events

Explain? Summarize.
What is your conclusion?
What next? Action plan?
What is the main idea?

The Six Thinking Hats

We tend to use all of the Six Hats on a

daily basis, but people tend to have
default hats that they use more often.

The Six Thinking Hats

Which two hats do you feel more

comfortable using?
Hat 1: __________________
Hat 2: __________________

The Six Thinking Hats

Which two hats do you feel dominate

in your team/organisation?
Hat 1: __________________
Hat 2: __________________

The Six Thinking Hats

What impact does that have on your

teams effectiveness?
_____________________________
_____________________________
_____________________________
_____________________________
_____________________________

The Six Thinking Hats

in Detail

The Blue Hat

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

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

FOCUS:

TIME:

Decide on what you what to think about

Set limits and work within them

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

There are questions on the next four slides to

help you focus on the white hat

The White Hat

What do we know?
_____________________________
_____________________________
_____________________________
_____________________________
_____________________________
_____________________________

The White Hat

What do we need to know?

_____________________________
_____________________________
_____________________________
_____________________________
_____________________________
_____________________________

The White Hat

Where are we going to get the information we

need to know?
_____________________________
_____________________________
_____________________________
_____________________________
_____________________________
_____________________________

The White Hat

What OPVs should we consider? Who are

these people and what are their views?
_____________________________
_____________________________
_____________________________
_____________________________
_____________________________
_____________________________

The Red Hat

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

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: 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 wont/didnt 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
____Shower Cap_____
_____Traffic Sign_____
_____Scarecrow______

Golf Tee
_____Toothpick_____
_____paper Holder___
___________________

Toothbrush
____Silver Cleaner____
____Paint Cleaner_____
___________________

Paperclip
___Popping discs_____
_____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

Managing the Thinking

White Hat

Setting the focus

Making summaries
Overviews & conclusions
Action Plans
Blue Hat

Information & Data

Black Hat

Why it may not work

Cautions * Dangers
Problems * Faults
Logical reasons
must be given

Neutral and objective

Checked and believed facts
Missing information &
Where to source it

FOCUS
Why it may work

Feelings and Intuition

Values * Benefits
(both known and potential)
Logical reasons
must be given

Emotions and hunches

No reasons or justifications
At this point
Keep it short

Yellow Hat

Green Hat

Creative Thinking
Possibilities * Alternatives
New Ideas * New Thinking
Overcome black hat issues
Reinforce yellow hat issues

Red Hat