South Suffolk Learning Community
7 September 2008
Welcome Learning Schools Events Newsletters Contact Us
YOU ARE HERE: Home + Learning + Thinking Hats
Learning
Assessment & Feedback
Interactive Whiteboards
Lead Learners
Learning Environment
Route Technique
Thinking Hats
Thinking Maps
Teaching
Websites
De Bono's Thinking Hats
6 Thinking Hats
During the 2nd annual conference we were reminded of Edward de Bono's  6 coloured thinking hats. Complete information on these can be found from Edward de Bono's website, http://www.edwdebono.com/.
 
 
 
 
 
Summary
 
The White Hat calls for information known or needed. "The facts, just the facts."
 
The Yellow Hat symbolises brightness and optimism. Under this hat you explore the positives and probe for value and benefit.
 
The Black Hat is judgment - thedevil's advocate or why something may not work. Spot the difficulties and dangers; where things might go wrong. Probably the most powerful and useful of the Hats but a problem if over-used.
 
The Red Hat signifies feelings, hunches and intuition. When using this hat you can express emotions and feelings and share fears, likes, dislikes, loves, and hates.
 
The Green Hat focuses on creativity; the possibilities,alternatives, and new ideas. It's an opportunity toexpress new concepts and new perceptions.
 
The Blue Hat is used to manage the thinking process. It's the control mechanism that ensures the Six Thinking Hats® guidelines are observed.
 
 
More Information
 
White Hat
Think of white paper, which is neutral and carries information.
 
  • The white hat has to do with data and information.
  • What information do we have here?
  • What information is missing?
  • What information would we like to have?
  • How are we going to get the information?
 
When you ask for white hat thinking at a meeting you are asking those present to put aside the proposals and arguments and to focus directly on the information. For the moment everyone at the meeting looks to see what information is available, what is needed and how it might be obtained.
 
Red Hat
Think of red and fire and warm.
 
  • The red hat has to do with feelings, intuition, hunches and emotions.
  • In a serious meeting you are not supposed to put forward your emotions, but people do this by disguising their emotions as logic.
  • The red hat gives people permission to put forward their feelings and intuitions without apology, without explanation and without any need to justify them.
  • Putting on my red hat, this is what I feel about the project.
  • My gut feeling is that it will not work.
  • I don’t like the way this is being done.
  • My intuition tells me that prices will fall soon.
 
Because the red hat signals feelings as such, they can come into the discussion without pretending to be anything else. Intuition may be a composite judgment based on years of experience in the field and may be very valuable even if the reasons behind the intuition cannot be spelled out consciously. It should also be said that intuition is not always right, and it can be wrong.
 
It is sometimes valuable to get feelings out into the open.
 
Black Hat
Think of a stern judge wearing black robes who comes down heavily on wrongdoers.
 
  • The black hat is the caution hat.
  • The black hat prevents us from making mistakes, doing silly things and and doing things which might be illegal.
  • The black hat is for critical judgment.
  • The black hat points out why something cannot be done.
  • The black hat points out why something will not be profitable.
  • The regulations do not permit us to do that.
  • We do not have the production capacity to meet that order.
  • When we tried a higher price the sales fell off.
  • He has no experience in export management.
 
Mistakes can be disastrous. No one wants to make mistakes or do silly things. So the black hat is very valuable. It is the most used hat and possibly the most useful hat.
At the same time it is very easy to overuse the black hat. Some people feel that it is enough to be cautious and negative and that if you prevent all mistakes then everything will be fine. It is easy to kill creative ideas with early negativity. Wine is fine but overuse of alcohol can turn you into an alcoholic. It is the same with the black hat. The hat is very valuable but overuse of it can be a problem.
 
Yellow Hat
Think of sunshine.
 
  • The yellow hat is for optimism and the logical positive view of things.
  • The yellow hat looks for feasibility and how something can be done.
  • The yellow hat looks for benefits – but they must be logically based.
  • This might work if we moved the production plant nearer to th e customers.
  • The benefit would come from repeat purchases.
  • The high cost of energy would make everyone more energy efficient.
 
The black hat is much more natural than the yellow hat because we need to avoid mistakes and danger for survival. Yellow hat thinking often requires a deliberate effort. Benefits are not always immediately obvious and we might have to search for them. Every creative idea deserves some yellow hat attention.
 
Green Hat    
Think of vegetation and rich growth
 
  • The green hat is for creative thinking.
  • The green hat is for new ideas.
  • The green hat is for additional alternatives.
  • The green hat is for putting forward possibilities and hypotheses.
  • The green hat covers provocation and movement (to be described later).
  • The green hat requests creative effort.
  • We need some new ideas here.
  • Are there any additional alternatives?
  • Could we do this a different way?
  • Could there be another explanation?
 
The green hat makes it possible to ask directly for a creative effort. The green hat makes time and space available for creative thinking. Even if no creative ideas are forthcoming, the green hat asks for the creative effort.
 
Blue Hat
Think of the sky and an overview
 
  • The blue hat is for process-control. The blue hat thinks about the thinking being used.
  • The blue hat sets the agenda for thinking.
  • The green hat is for additional alternatives.
  • The blue hat suggests the next step in the thinking
  • The blue hat can ask for other hats.
  • The blue hat asks for summaries, conclusions and decisions.
  • The blue hat can comment on the thinking being used.
  • We have spent far too much time looking for someone to blame.
  • Could we have a summary of your views?
  • I think we should take a look at the priorities.
  • I suggest we try some green hat thinking to get some new ideas.
 
The blue hat is used by the chairperson or organiser of the meeting, but other participants can put forward suggestions. The blue hat is for organising and controlling the thinking process so that it becomes more productive. The blue hat is for thinking about thinking.
 
An example of these thinking hats being used in a lesson is available from
http://www.vatme.vic.edu.au/resources/teachers/strategies/using_6_hats.htm
 
© South Suffolk Learning Community
+ print friendly  + low graphics  

Generated: 01/02/2005   |   Modified: 01/02/2005 by Chris Ryall

 [ Login ]