Welcome to the Six Thinking Hats! Building perspective & critical thinking.
- Apeksha Harsh
- Jun 17
- 3 min read
All of us wear different hats. Just think of Charlie Chaplin’s bowler hat, Indiana Jones’ fedora or Willy Wonka’s top hat. Iconic. But popular culture aside, did you know that wearing different hats (metaphorically speaking) can actually help with problem-solving?
Way back in 1985, Edward de Bono explored a concept that outlined not only how we think, but also how we act. Welcome to the Six Thinking Hats. We all know how easy it is to get stuck inside a single perspective – maybe it’s choosing a household appliance, maybe it’s revisiting a world view. What opens up things for us is seeing with clarity.
Missing pieces. A new angle. Challenging ideas. It completely changes how a problem or a situation can be approached.
De Bono’s Six Thinking Hats helped chart our thinking processes in detail. All with the intention to facilitate greater creativity and constructiveness.
How does it work?
Wear each thinking hat for a set period of time to analyse a situation from a diverse perspective. By according time for each standpoint as we wear different hats, we create space for all kinds of thinking, strengthening how we assess, process and ultimately solve a problem at hand. At the core of it, lies perspective building (something I talk about when it comes to soft skills!)
Say hello to the Six Thinking Hats.
The White Hat. Neutral all the way.
When you wear the white hat, you’re thinking objectively. It helps set the groundwork.
What information do I have on hand?
What do I already know?
What more do I need?
The Red Hat. Emotions – fiery, or not.
When you wear the red hat, you’re focussed on feelings. You may get surprising insights!
How do I feel about this?
What is my intuition telling me?
How can my emotions impact my perspective or my choices?
The Yellow Hat. Sunshine and positivity.
When you wear the yellow hat, you’re looking at a glass half-full. Think long-term impact.
What good can come out of this?
How will this be useful?
What value will this bring?
The Black Hat. Tread carefully.
When you wear the black hat, you’re looking at a glass half-empty. Think critical analysis.
What could go wrong?
What risks does this entail?
What am I not seeing?
The Green Hat. Grow, grow, go.
When you wear the green hat, you’re thinking creatively. There is no judgement.
What can I do differently?
What are my alternatives?
What can I brainstorm freely?
The Blue Hat. Think calm, think collected.
When you wear the blue hat, you’re thinking about the process. Let it show you the way.
Where do I begin?
What action is needed?
How am I proceeding?
You can wear the hats in this order – unlocking a whole way to break down and solve a problem. Or you can be a rebel and skip some hats! (Nah, that’s not my colour.)
And the best part? They are field-agnostic. That means you can use them to build perspective no matter where you work. Use the Six Thinking Hats in your classroom, in a sales meeting, in a start-up venture. The list is endless.
These hats also serve a variety of purposes, including ideation, team planning, conflict management and problem-solving. Truth be told, using all six of them help as handy tools in parallel thinking.
And if you think the Six Thinking Hats work only with a set number of people, think again. You could be a total of 1 or 50. They are equally applicable to individual critical thinking and group mechanics. Of course, safe to say, that if a group (small or large) is moving through wearing each of the hats, a skilled facilitator is required who can wear a blue hat to see the big picture and facilitate the entire process smoothly. Depending on the task at hand, you may even vary the sequence of the thinking hats.
Ultimately, The Six Thinking Hats when used with precision facilitate understanding of a situation along with context, ideation, risk-assessment and strategy.
So, are you going to be a Chaplin or an Indiana in your next brainstorming session? Heck, maybe you can be all of them now.
If you want to explore and hone your soft skills, then my programme Amplify might just be what you need.
Comments