Six Thinking Hats –
Edward de Bono
Book about designating one's frame of
reference when thinking in order to achieve specific goals. Especially
recommended for meetings where solutions/ideas are needed. The six frames of reference, or "hats" are: white = just the facts
of the situation; red = emotion or intuition concerning the situation; black =
critical thinking; yellow = positive thinking and constructive methods of
achieving goal; green = creativity and idea generation; blue = master hat for
directing overarching goals/purpose of meeting. Further summaries of hats:
White hat - neutral and objective facts without interpretation. Red hat - Feelings about the matter. Can
ask a person to switch in or out of red hat thinking so they only give their
emotional or intuition concerning the issue. Should never attempt to
justify or logically explain feeling, just report it. Black hat - Concerned
with caution. Used to consider risks, dangers, and potential
problems with solution. Should be used when assessing suggestions, but
should not be used to fuel arguments or overused. Yellow hat
- Positive and constructive thinking. Covers all
positive thoughts and suggestions from logical and practical advantages to hipes and visions. Concrete proposals and
suggestions that seek to take advantage of opportunities. Green hat - Creative
thinking that generates new ideas. Both thinker and listener need to wear green
hat. Used to search for all available alternatives to a
problem. Provocation is how to think of green, try to provoke new
domains/thoughts to escape typical patterns of thinking. Blue
hat - control hat. Organizes the thinking that goes
into an issue. Outlines goals and purpose of all
discussion. Think of a conductor in an orchestra. Responsible
for summaries, conclusions, and overviews. Also
responsible for stopping arguments and keeping everyone on track concerning
overall goals. Shouldn't assign each person a particular hat, but rather
should get everyone to take turns thinking with the mindset of each hat during
that portion of the meeting.