SixThinkingHats

Six Thinking Hats (Edward De Bono)

  • Great. Want to try to implement in my thinking.
  • Claim: "Six Thinking Hats method may well be the most important change in human thinking in for the past 2300 years." !!

  • Thinking is the ultimate human resource.

    [BROKEN LINK: 56F11I1-8IK9-1MM1-6M56-M42M638435IK]

  • Main difficulty of thinking is confusion. Try to do too much at once. Emotions, information, logic, hope and creativity all crowd in on us.

    Rationality

  • 6 hats method is a very simple concept which allows a thinker to do one thing at a time.
  • Pre-sensitization is a key part of how the brain works and why its so efficient.
  • 6 hats allows the brain to maximize its sensitivity in different directions at different times.

  • Looking for the pros and cons together at the same time doesn't work in practice. The brain can be sensitized in only one direction at a time.

    Protocols

  • Ego is perhaps the biggest obstacle to quick and effective thinking

    Protocols

  • White Hat:
    • Neutral and objective. Concerted with facts and figures
  • Red Hat:
  • Gives the emotional view: Opposite of white hat. Hunches, intuitions, impressions. No need to justify.
  • If emotions and feelings are not permitted as inputs in the thinking process, they will lurk in the background and affect all thinking in a hidden way.
    • Emotions, feelings, hunches and intuitions are strong and real. They red hat acknowledges this.
  • If people feel that they have to validate their feelings, then they will only put forward feelings that can be validated; so no explanation should be allowed.
  • Strong background emotions limits and colors all perception. The purpose of the red hat thinking is to make visible this background so that its subsequent influence can be observed.
  • Emotion can be triggered by an initial perception. We are very quick to make these snap judgments and to become locked in the emotions they release.
  • Intuition can be treated as one might treat an advisor. IF the advisor has been reliable in the past, we are likely to pay more attention.
  • The artificiality of "putting on the red hat" is the real value. Emotions take some time to well up and even longer to die down. The red had allows you to switch in and out of the emotion in a matter of moments [BROKEN LINK: Disengage]
  • Emotions dont have to be logical or consistent. We are brought up to apologize for emotions and feelings b/c they are not the stuff of "logical" thinking. ie: we tend to treat them as improper extensions of logic.
  • Once the emotions are made visible, then a thinker is more free of them. There may even be more pressure on the thinker to be objective.
  • Black Hat:
  • Cautions and Careful. Points out weaknesses in an idea
  • Perhaps the most important hat.
  • the bulk of practical thinking is on the basis of likelihood, not logic Rationality
  • Overuse of the black hat is not helpful. Sometimes it is simply ego-driven. Most often it is just a habit.
  • Yellow Hat:
  • Covers hope and positive thinking
  • Here we try to see how it may be possible to put the idea into practice.
  • Need to develop "value sensitivity". Try being as sensitive to value as we are to danger. See The Good
  • Its a waste of time setting out to be creative if you are not going to recognize a good idea. See The Good
  • Its not just a matter of making a positive assessment of something that turns up. It is a deliberate search for the positive.
  • There may be powerful positive points that are not at all obvious at first sight. That is how entrepreneurs work. They see the value that those around them have not yet spotted. Value and benefit are by no means always obvious. See The Good [BROKEN LINK: PeterTheil]
  • Yellow hat thinkging Includes opportunity thinking, beyond problem solving. People are forced to solve problems but no one is ever forced to look for opportunities. Protocols
  • Green Hat:
  • Focuses on creativity and new ideas
  • Lay out options and alternative, both obvious and fresh.
  • Value in that a specific time is laid out for everyone to make a creative effort. Acknowledges that creativity is key ingredient in thinking.
  • Look for the "adjacent possible"
  • Used to overcome some of the difficulties put forward by the black hat. May suggest modifications to avoid difficulties. May also suggest the need for a new idea.
  • Concerned with escaping from the old ideas in order to find better ones. Concerned with change.
  • May be more need for green hat thinking than for any other of the hats.
  • New ideas are delicate seedlings which need the green hat to protect from instant frost of black hat habits. Generator Filter
  • Green Hat can be used as a signal to yourself. You are deliberately setting aside time for creative thinking. This is quite different from waiting for ideas to come to you. You make the effort. The green hat makes creative thinking a formal part of the thinking process instead of just a luxury. Protocols
  • Creative more than just being positive and optimistic. These feelings are under the red hat. Green hat demands new ideas, approaches and further alternatives.
  • Cannot demand an output. Can demand effort. Demand that time is set aside for generating new ideas. What matters is that time has been spent.
  • Critical thinking and black hat thinking are concerned with understanding how an idea fits in with what we already know; the "backward effect" of an idea. Green hat thinking replacing backward-looking judgment with forward-looking "movement"
  • Just aw we use a stepping stone to move across a river, we can use a provocation as a stepping stone for movement from one pattern to another Protocols
  • Other times a provocation can be thought of a seedling that we nurture.
  • What is interesting in this idea? What is different in this idea? What does this idea suggest ? … lead to?
  • A provocation can never be looked for b/c it has no place in current thinking.
  • The ability to use provocations is an essential part of lateral thinking Protocols
    • An idea is put out for its forward effect - to provoke something.
  • One simple provocation uses reversal: Invert eg: "Po, the story pays the customers"
  • IF someone brings you an idea which you do not like and which you can instantly dismiss with your black hat thinking, you can instead put on your green hat and choose to treat that idea as a provocation. Protocols
  • A very simple way to get a provocation is to use a random word. Easy to see why works, provides a different starting point: Random initial conditions could find a better (different) minimum.
  • With the Green hat use provocation and movement as a means of creativity.
  • We are so problem oriented that when there are no clear immediate problems we prefer to move along smoothly rather than to pause to create more thinking work for ourselves.
  • Creative thinking is usually in a weak position b/c it does not seem to be a necessary part of thinking. The formality of the green hat promotes it to being a recognized part of thinking.
  • One of the weakest aspects of creativity is the "harvesting" of ideas.
  • Would be nice if everyone could see in an idea the brilliance and potential that is obvious to the originator. This is often not the case. Part of the create process is to shape the idea so that it better fits the need profile of those who are going to have to "buy" the idea. AdjacentPossible See The Good eg: Is there a way this idea can be seen as saving money ? How can this been seen as an extension of what we are currently doing ?
  • Blue Hat:
  • Organizes the thinking process and the use of the other hats.
  • Thinking about thinking
  • Typically worn by the facilitator, or chair. This is a permanent role.
  • First blue hat indicates: Why we are here, what we are thinking about, definition of the problem, what we want to achieve, plan for the sequence of hats to be used.
  • Final Blue hat: What we have achieved, outcome, conclusion, design etc. next steps
  • Typically cycle: After green hat thinking comes a yellow hat stage, then black hat. The final stage should be some red hat thinking. In the end if there is no enthusiasm for an idea it is unlikely to succeed no matter how good it may be.
  • The blue hat thinker is looking at the thinking that is taking place. He is the choreographer who designs the steps, but he is also the critic who watches what is happening.
  • Responsible for pulling into shape what may have been a chaotic discussion.
  • A powerful way of treating opposing idea is to suppose that each is correct under certain circumstances. Protocols
  • Will probably have to make computers emotional if they are to think intelligently AI
  • Facts and Figures can never be treated objectively when put forward as part of an argument

  • Western thinking prefers to give a conclusion first and then to bring in the facts to support the conclusion. 6 hats proposes an alternative "Map Making" thinking that first make the map and then chooses the route.

    UnpopularImportantTruth

  • In a normal business discussion you are not supposed to allow your emotions to come in; they come in anyway disguised as logic.
  • Those who believe progress arises from the analysis of information and steps of logical deduction are totally wrong. Without a framework of possibilities we cannot see the information in a new way. AdjacentPossible

  • Difference between a good and bad thinker lies in the ability to focus.

    Advice

  • A problem is really only a special type of question: How do we achieve this?
  • Its a waste of time setting out to be creative if you are not going to recognize a good idea.

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