6 Thinking HatsEdward De Bono

Edward De Bono is a world-known expert in creative thinking. The 6 Thinking Hats is one such technique. The main idea is to have the group only “wear one hat at a time” when considering a problem. The wearing of the hat is metaphorical. At any one time, everyone will wear the same colour, in other words, look at the problem at hand from only one perspective, the perspective indicated by the hat colour.

Dr. Edward De Bono

The blue hat is different from the other hats because it is involved with directing the thinking process itself. We are actually using the blue hat whenever we suggest the next hat to be used.The blue hat need not be acknowledged at every turn however there are some points which it is often helpful i.e.,

1. At the outset of a discussion – Lets decide what we want to think about and which hats we will use?

2. At a midpoint to restate the thinking goal – I think we are getting away from what we wanted to talk about. Can someone recall what we decided to talk about?

3. At the end to summarise what thinking has been done – Think of a sentence that tells about what we have been doing today?

The Unique Blue Hat

The hats can be used singly at any point in thinking. In general, this is the major use. The hats are used as a convenience for directing thinking and for switching thinking.

Simple sequences of two or three hats may be used together for a particular purpose. For example, the yellow hat followed by the black hat may be used to assess an idea. The black hat followed by the green hat may be used to improve a design. (All Weather bike)

Single Hat and Sequence Use

Red + White Comparing fact and opinionBlack + Yellow + Green Comparing and synthesising (coming up with

new ideas from the known)White + Blue What do we know (facts) and where are we

going (planning)

Other Sequences

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