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Six Thinking Hats
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Exploring different perspectives. Explanation of Six Thinking Hats of Edward de Bono. |
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The STH technique is designed to help individuals deliberately explore
a variety of perspectives on a subject that may be very different from the
one that they might most naturally assume. In wearing a particular thinking
hat, people play roles, or "as if" themselves into a particular perspective.
For instance, one could play the devil's advocate, even if only for the sake
of generating discussion. The purpose of devil's advocacy is to deliberately
challenge an idea: be critical, look for what is wrong with it.
The Six Hats
De Bono's hats are indicative of both emotional states as well as frames of mind (i.e., perspective from which an issue is viewed). He noted: "Emotions are an essential part of our thinking ability and not just something extra that mucks up our thinking" (1985, p27). One thinking style (or hat) is not inherently "better" than another. A full, balanced team recognizes the need for all hats in order for the team to consider all aspects of whatever issues they are facing.
Main benefits of Six Thinking Hats method
Using the Six HatsIn most group contexts, individuals tend to feel constrained to consistently adopt a specific perspective (optimistic, pessimistic, objective, etc.). This limits the ways and extent to which each individual and thus the group as a whole can explore an issue. With the Six Thinking Hats, one is no longer limited to a single perspective in one's thinking. The hats are categories of thinking behavior and not of people themselves. The purpose of the hats is to direct thinking, not classify either the thinking or the thinker. Indeed, by wearing a hat that is different from the one that one customarily wears, one may chance upon a variety of new ideas. Wearing a hat means deliberately adopting a perspective that is not necessarily one's own. It is important that all group members are aware of this fact. A group member must clearly identify the color of the hat he is wearing while making a statement. Wearing a clearly identified hat separates ego from performance. The Six Hat Method is useful even for individuals thinking by themselves.
Typical steps in a Six Hats workshop. ProcessHats may be used in some structured sequence depending on the nature of
the issue. Here is an example agenda for a typical 6 hats workshop:
Six Thinking Hats Forum
Six Thinking Hats Special Interest Group
Six Thinking Hats Education & Events
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Compare with Six Thinking Hats: Groupthink | Spiral of Silence | Team Management Profile | Belbin Team Roles | Metaplan | Core Group Theory | Mind Mapping | Brainstorming | Delphi Method | Catalytic Mechanisms | Whole Brain Model | Scenario Planning | Game Theory | Root Cause Analysis | Dialectical Inquiry | Theory of Constraints | Force Field Analysis | Emotional Intelligence | Analogical Strategic Reasoning | Stage-Gate
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Enter a new Tip, Idea, Comment or Question |
| § Eveline (UK) | Rubbish | "Please do explain and provide arguments GS Chandy, otherwise your opinion is useless." | |
| § Abhijeet Desai (India) | 6 Thinking Hats wonderful | "I have gone thru the complete book and used this Brain Storming technique for our dealers. Believe me friends it had a tremendous impact on them. I am getting wonderful results. I strongly believe that it solely depends on how the concept is being presented." | |
| § jc (Singapore) | Not so useful | "I used to read Ewdard De Bono's writing when I was young ... around 20 years old time. I could understand only a little, as I grow and experience, De Bono's concepts become more useful. Personally, I just think his ideas are just a thinking tools. Not so useful ..." | |
| § J J G Arachchige (Sri Lanka) | Useful for Group Decisions | "The Six Thinking Hats are useful for group decisions. Yet the concept seems to require deliberate application as the facts in the six hats are not clearly distinguished from each other." | |
| § (Mauritius) | 6 Thinking Hats is vital for Group Discussion | "It is vital because when holding a meeting, the Director will wear the White Hat to launch the debate and some will wear the Green Hat and will generate ideas how the case could be handled. Moreover, there will be some stills will put in front all ideas pros (Yellow Hat), while others will wear a Red Hat by mentioning the negative impacts of the case. At the end of the meeting some will bring alternative methods - Red Hat. To sum up the Director will wear the Blue Hat and adjourne the meeting." |
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| § (France) | Example | "I often use it with engineers and R&D managers to get them to focus away from their innate Black & White thinking and more on the Red, Yellow and Green. In my experience it can work for some but often their thinking is so ingrained over 20+ years, it is unrealistic to expect significant change, especially in a workshop setting where this is only a tool and not the reason for being there." | |
| § Alpa (India) | Use of 6 Thinking Hats | "The use of this fantastic tool is not restricted to any process, team or specific work type. You can practically use it for anything from work to personal life as well. I have successfully used this in IT to identify the pros & cons of a specific improvement and why people think it would work or why it wouldn't. This helps eliminate bias in people's thoughts hence helping more structured & fruitful brainstorming." |
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The
Six Thinking Hats technique of Edward de Bono is a model that can be used
for exploring different perspectives towards a complex situation or challenge.
Seeing things in various ways is often a good idea in strategy formation or
complex decision-making processes. 
