The Six Thinking Hats

The concept of the six hats method shows a way to separate emotion from logic, creativity from information and so on. Putting on any one of the hats defines a certain type of thinking. The six hats method allows us to conduct our thinking as a conductor might lead an orchestra.

argument versus parallel thinking.
The basic idea behind Western thinking was desined by the Greek philosophers Socrates, Plato and Aristotle. Western thinking is concerned with 'what is' which is determined by analysis, judgment and argument.

With the six hats method the emphasis is on 'what can be' rather than on just 'what is' and how to design a way forward- not on who is right or wrong.

In the Western traditional thinking two people will go for the exact opposite of an argument and using the adversarial approach would try to win over the other. In parallel thinkg both parties even when they disagree would agree to look at the same direction at any one particular moment in time. So in parallel thinking, no matter how contradictory, all points of view are put down in parellel.

Here goes the different hats

• White hat: an objective look at information
• Red hat: looks at feelings hunches and intiution
• Black hat: logical negative, judgement and caution
• Yellow hat: logical positive, feasibility and benifits
• Green hat: New ideas and creative thinking
• Blue hat: Control of the thinking process

Every hat corresponds to a direction of thinking and not descriptions of what has happened.

To uderstand and apply this method of thinking read Edward de Bono's Excerpts.