Edward de Bono - Six Thinking Hats

My last blog spoke most warmly of Edward de Bono’s Six Thinking Hats - first described in his excellent book with that as its title. For those who want more information, try the book or the web. Master its lessons and you will no longer be locked into extremely counter-productive mental (for which read ‘emotional’) attitudes. You also learn how to understand the most crucial activity in which you engage - thinking.

It’s many-sided. Fact-finding, for first instance, is when you (and in a meeting, all the others) concentrate on the facts, analyse the information you have, and identify what more you need to know. Here you wear the White Hat.

The Red Hat function couldn’t be further removed. Here you let your intuition take command. Never ignore a ‘hunch’ or ‘gut feelings’. They result from the same intellectual processes as controlled thinking. You may not be conscious of those processes, but you can benefit hugely from the result of their silent work.

There are also positive results from thinking negatively. That may sound weird, but it’s important to think through all the negatives - all the reasons why a plan may not work. People who only wear this Black Hat are a pain. But you must make sure that the black, cautionary warnings have all been thoroughly examined.

The Yellow Hat is the opposite, again. This is positive thinking, where you concentrate on the benefits and show the sunny, optimistic side of your thinking.

Yellow goes hand-in-hand with green - creativity. The Green Hat is worn for developing creative ideas. While logic and organisation are required to develop creative excellence, this depends on free thought - in which lateral thinking (the most famous de Bono inspiration) covers a highly valuable body of techniques.

Finally, there’s the Blue Hat. With this hat on, you think about controlling the process, about organising discussion, planning and execution to achieve the best possible result. This is where you ask the key question:

Have we thought intelligently, hard and long enough under all the other Five Hats?

If not, DO IT!!