Six Thinking Hats – A Book Review

A special way to think

Six Thinking Hats by Edward de Bono was first published many years ago (in the 1980’s). As such it could be considered out of date. However, it remains highly relevant and should be introduced to a new audience.

De Bono believes that there is a problem with the normal approach to dealing with issues. The normal approach is to talk about what you like or do not like about an idea. This leads to people becoming combative and only seeing the issue from their point of view. De Bono sees this argumentative approach as inefficient and unproductive. Like people who are committed to consensus building, he wants people to work together. His way of getting people to work together is to divide up the consideration of an issue into six categories. The 6 ways to look at an issue are called six thinking hats.

The Six Thinking Hats

When you approach an issue that needs a decision what do you need to know? Some people want information, others need to be sure that risks are taken into account, for some people how they feel is a crucial consideration and others look for new options or a positive view in a situation. Each of these is a way of exploring an issue and each has its place.

Based on these different approaches de Bono offers a “hat” for each one. His six hats each have their own colour and when wearing it people look at an issue from a different angle. The hats are:

White: is neutral and objective. Wearing this hat people are focused on facts and figures – data.

Red: carries the idea of passion, emotions.  Wearing the red hat people talk about their feelings, provide an emotional perspective on the situation.

Black: is serious, maybe even negative/sombre. When working with this hat people are encouraged to point out weaknesses and to be cautious and careful.

Yellow: is sunny and positive. Wearers look for the positives and point to where there is hope.

Green: carries the image of abundance and growth. This is the place for creativity and generating new ideas.

Blue: like the sky, it is above everything else. The blue hat is concerned with organizing the process and the use of the other hats.

How to use the hats

This is a fairly simple process but because it is a new thing to many people de Bono spends time unpacking the use of the hats. For example, the black hat is curious and careful and should not be only seen as negative; and the red hat allows emotions to be respected without having to justify them and then to be able to be placed alongside other perspectives.

Basically the leader of a discussion says to the group that now we are all going to put on a particular hat. So if it is our white hats -what information or data do you know or need to know to help us to think about this problem?  Putting on the green hat has everyone bringing their creative thinking to the task and thinking laterally about an issue – it encourages creativity.

The key to using the hats is to sense when a particular perspective on a problem is going to move the discussion along. Here the leader is crucial as they will need to sense the next thing that is necessary to build insight and discernment.

Thinking hats and consensus building

The main similarity between de Bono’s thinking hats and a consensus approach to decision-making is that both want people to work together rather than to argue with each other. De Bono emphasizes that arguing back and forth only entrenches positions and does not guarantee that all the information and options are in front of the group. His approach is to get people to work together by looking at an issue or problem from the same angle at the same time. This builds collaboration, shared understanding and a sense of partnership in finding a solution.

Consensus building also affirms the value that we are all on the same team and has the aim of ensuring that everything that we need to make a good decision is out on the table. The six thinking hats, like consensus processes, respect all points of view and know that we need all of them to make a good decision.

Conclusion

There are many ways in which issues can be explored. The best ones are those that build collaboration, reduce competition and generate the best information and ideas. In this respect, Edward de Bono’s thinking hats make a wonderful addition to the tools that achieve these ends.