Traditional Thinking

Describe you current style of thinking

___________________________ ___________________________ ___________________________ ___________________________ ___________________________ ___________________________

Describe you current style of thinking - example

Logical and analytical Somewhat creative Like to talk things out Bounce ideas off people

What are your thinking strengths?

___________________________ ___________________________ ___________________________ ___________________________ ___________________________ ___________________________

What are your thinking strengths? - example

Good problem solver Good team worker Fun thinker

What are your thinking weaknesses?

___________________________ ___________________________ ___________________________ ___________________________ ___________________________ ___________________________

What are your thinking weaknesses? - example

Not very lateral Not good at being critical Not good at overviews Sometimes miss big picture of

sequencing

How is it working for you?

___________________________ ___________________________ ___________________________ ___________________________ ___________________________ ___________________________

How is it working for you? -example

Fine at the moment Always room for improvement Often miss the obvious

Where do you do your best thinking?

___________________________ ___________________________ ___________________________ ___________________________ ___________________________ ___________________________

Where do you do your best thinking? - example

In the shower In my dreams

In your group, do some thinking around

Pick any two of the following to focus on;

Banning high fat foods Everyone wears a lie detector Pavement Proficiency licence All cars painted yellow Banning vehicles from the city centre Marriage renewed every five years Everyone is entitled to one-year sabbatical

In your group, do some thinking around

Write down where you focused your thinking ___________________________ ___________________________ ___________________________ ___________________________ ___________________________ ___________________________

Now individually

Write down any observations you have regarding the thinking behaviours of the group.

___________________________ ___________________________ ___________________________ ___________________________

The Six Thinking Hats

Edward de Bono

Edward de Bono has written 65 books with translations in 37 languages. He has been invited to work in 52 countries.He was born in Malta and graduated from the University of Malta. He proceeded as a Rhodes Scholar to Oxford and has held appointments at the Universities of Oxford, Cambridge, London and Harvard.

Dr de Bono is the originator of the term 'lateral thinking' which now has an official entry in the Oxford English Dictionary. He is regarded as the leading international authority in conceptual and creative thinking, and also the direct teaching of thinking as a skill.

Thinking is a skill, that is all about using what you’ve got

Thinking is a skill, that is all about using what you’ve got

An excellent driver will get great performance, even out of a banger.

Thinking is a skill, that is all about using what you’ve got

An excellent driver will get great performance, even out of a banger.

A poor driver won’t get a goodperfomance out of a great car.

Thinking is a skill, that is all about using what you’ve got

A person of average intelligence with good thinking skills can be very creative.

A very intelligent person with bad thinking skills won’t be creative.

The Six Thinking Hats

Traditional Meeting

Parallel Thinking

Parallel Thinking

Parallel Thinking

Parallel Thinking

Parallel Thinking

The Six Thinking Hats

Each ‘hat’ represents a perspective or way of thinking

They are metaphorical hats that a thinker can put on or take off to indicate the type of thinking they are using

The Six Thinking Hats

In a group we can ask members to ‘put on’ different hats in a sequence to aid the problem solving process

This can help overcome the problem of each group member adopting random positions at random times

The Six Thinking Hats

It also permits us to control people who insist of sticking to one perspective - we can ask them to assume a different hat

Many major international organisations use this technique for problem solving

The Six Thinking Hats

FOCUS

Managing the ThinkingSetting the focusMaking summariesOverviews & conclusionsAction Plans

The Six Thinking Hats

FOCUS

Managing the ThinkingSetting the focusMaking summariesOverviews & conclusionsAction Plans

Why it may not workCautions * DangersProblems * FaultsLogical reasons must be given

The Six Thinking Hats

FOCUS

Managing the ThinkingSetting the focusMaking summariesOverviews & conclusionsAction Plans

Why it may not workCautions * DangersProblems * FaultsLogical reasons must be given

Feelings and IntuitionEmotions and hunchesNo reasons or justifications“At this point”Keep it short

The Six Thinking Hats

FOCUS

Managing the ThinkingSetting the focusMaking summariesOverviews & conclusionsAction Plans

Why it may not workCautions * DangersProblems * FaultsLogical reasons must be given

Creative ThinkingPossibilities * AlternativesNew Ideas * New ThinkingOvercome black hat issuesReinforce yellow hat issues

Feelings and IntuitionEmotions and hunchesNo reasons or justifications“At this point”Keep it short

The Six Thinking Hats

FOCUS

Managing the ThinkingSetting the focusMaking summariesOverviews & conclusionsAction Plans

Why it may not workCautions * DangersProblems * FaultsLogical reasons must be given

Why it may workValues * Benefits(both known and potential)Logical reasons must be given

Creative ThinkingPossibilities * AlternativesNew Ideas * New ThinkingOvercome black hat issuesReinforce yellow hat issues

Feelings and IntuitionEmotions and hunchesNo reasons or justifications“At this point”Keep it short

The Six Thinking Hats

FOCUS

Information & DataNeutral and objectiveChecked and believed factsMissing information & Where to source it

Managing the ThinkingSetting the focusMaking summariesOverviews & conclusionsAction Plans

Why it may not workCautions * DangersProblems * FaultsLogical reasons must be given

Why it may workValues * Benefits(both known and potential)Logical reasons must be given

Creative ThinkingPossibilities * AlternativesNew Ideas * New ThinkingOvercome black hat issuesReinforce yellow hat issues

Feelings and IntuitionEmotions and hunchesNo reasons or justifications“At this point”Keep it short

The Six Thinking Hats

FOCUS

Information & DataWho, what, when, where?What do you know about?What are the facts about?What do you need to know?Where do you locate this?

Managing the ThinkingHow do we sequence the eventsExplain? Summarize.What is your conclusion?What next? Action plan?What is the main idea?

Why it may not workWhat are the risks of?Why won’t/didn’t this work?What were the difficulties of?What are the consequences of?What should you be cautious about?

Why it may workWhat are the benefits?What is good about?What is a positive outcomes?What is the value?Can this be made to work?

Creative ThinkingWhat if?What is good about?What else can we do?What is the value of?How can we make this work?What are the alternatives?

Feelings and IntuitionWhat does your intuition tell you?Did your feelings change? How?What prejudices are present?What are you feeling now?What is your hunch about?

The Six Thinking Hats

We tend to use all of the Six Hats on a daily basis, but people tend to have default hats that they use more often.

The Six Thinking Hats

Which two hats do you feel more comfortable using?

Hat 1: __________________ Hat 2: __________________

The Six Thinking Hats

Which two hats do you feel dominate in your team/organisation?

Hat 1: __________________ Hat 2: __________________

The Six Thinking Hats

What impact does that have on your team’s effectiveness?

_____________________________ _____________________________ _____________________________ _____________________________ _____________________________

The Six Thinking Hatsin Detail

The Blue Hat

The Blue Hat

FACILITATOR ROLE The role of the facilitator Focuses and refocuses thinking Makes calls for the group to make

decisions

The Blue Hat

Questions How do we sequence the events Explain? Summarize. What is your conclusion? What next? Action plan? What is the main idea? What was the problem? How was it

solved?

The Blue Hat

Describe a typical meeting _____________________________ _____________________________ _____________________________ _____________________________ _____________________________ _____________________________

The Blue Hat

Which of your meetings would benefit from the Six Thinking Hats framework?

_____________________________ _____________________________ _____________________________ _____________________________ _____________________________ _____________________________

The Blue Hat

TECHNIQUE:Choose the right hat or tool

TIME:Set limits and work within them

FOCUS:Decide on what you what to think about

The Blue Hat

CREATIVE HIT LIST List three areas where you need new ideas Try not to think about problems Look for opportunities Develop a focus statement for each starting

with “how to …” Focus 1: _______________________ Focus 2: _______________________ Focus 3: _______________________

The White Hat

The White Hat

FACTS AND LOGIC Separates fact from speculation Specifies action needed to fill gaps Assesses the relevance and accuracy

of information

The White Hat

Questions Who, what, when, where? What do you know about? What are the facts about? What do you need or want to know about? Where might you go to find out about?

The White Hat

In White Hat mode, think about one of the following …

Focus 1: Traffic Congestion Focus 2: Noise Pollution Focus 3: Human Nutrition

There are questions on the next four slides to help you focus on the white hat

The White Hat

What do we know? _____________________________ _____________________________ _____________________________ _____________________________ _____________________________ _____________________________

The White Hat

What do we need to know? _____________________________ _____________________________ _____________________________ _____________________________ _____________________________ _____________________________

The White Hat

Where are we going to get the information we need to know?

_____________________________ _____________________________ _____________________________ _____________________________ _____________________________ _____________________________

The White Hat

What OPVs should we consider? Who are these people and what are their views?

_____________________________ _____________________________ _____________________________ _____________________________ _____________________________ _____________________________

The Red Hat

The Red Hat

EMOTIONS AND FEELINGS Gives permission to express feelings,

hunches and intuitions Can be used to help make a decision Does not require justification or

explanation Limited to 30 seconds or less Best expressed in a word or two

The Red Hat

Questions What are you feeling now? Did your feelings change? How? What prejudices are present? What is your hunch about? What does your intuition tell you? Which way do you like based on your

feelings?

The Red Hat

How do you currently manage your feelings?

_____________________________ _____________________________ _____________________________ _____________________________ _____________________________

The Red Hat

How are emotions dealt with on your team?

_____________________________ _____________________________ _____________________________ _____________________________ _____________________________

The Red Hat

How do you feel about? Flexitime at work _______ Legalizing marijuana _______ Bungee jumping team exercise _______ Mandatory retirement at 55 _______ Eliminating titles at work _______ Banning smoking everywhere _______ Cloning humans _______

The Red Hat

Sorting ideas using the red hat

What ideas are most interesting to me? What ideas have most potential? What ideas do I thinking are boldest?

The Red Hat

Group using the ABC Sorting technique

A: Which ideas could we ACT on right now? B: What ideas are BEGINNING ideas? C: What ideas are CONCEPTS (broad ideas)?

The Yellow Hat

The Yellow Hat

LOGICAL POSITIVES Explores the benefits of an idea Must give reasons why an idea is

valuable or might work Reinforces creative ideas and new

directions

The Yellow Hat

Questions What are the benefits? What is good about? What is a positive outcomes? What is the value? Can this be made to work? Explain. What did you like about?

The Yellow Hat

What are the benefits of?

Focus 1: Birthdays only when deserved Focus 2: Weekly 24hr broadcasting ban Focus 3: Unreliable friend Focus 4: Black toothpaste

The Black Hat

The Black Hat

LOGICAL NEGATIVES Explores why an idea may not work Must give logical reasons for concerns Points out difficulties

The Black Hat

Questions What should you be cautious about? What are the consequences of? What were the difficulties of? Why won’t/didn’t this work? What did you dislike about? What are the risks of?

The Black Hat

Is there someone you work with who tends to overuse black hat thinking? What is the impact?

_____________________________ _____________________________ _____________________________ _____________________________

The Black Hat

What are the downsides, both existing and potential of?

Focus 1: World-wide smoking ban Focus 2: Identity card schemes Focus 3: Making poverty history Focus 4: Electronic tagging for everyone

The Green Hat

The Green Hat

CREATIVTITY AND IMAGINATION Encourages a search for new ideas Seeks to modify and removes faults

from existing ideas Makes time for creative effort

The Green Hat

Questions What if? What is good about? What is the value of? How can we make this work? What are the alternatives? What else can we do?

The Green Hat

What is holding your team back from being creative? (Creative Barriers)

____________________________ ____________________________ ____________________________ ____________________________ ____________________________

The Green Hat Thinking of other uses for:

Balloon Golf Tee

___________________ ___________________

___________________ ___________________

___________________ ___________________

Toothbrush Paperclip

___________________ ___________________

___________________ ___________________

___________________ ___________________

The Green Hat Thinking of other uses for:

Balloon Golf Tee

____Shower Cap_____ _____Toothpick_____

_____Traffic Sign_____ _____paper Holder___

_____Scarecrow______ ___________________

Toothbrush Paperclip

____Silver Cleaner____ ___Popping discs_____

____Paint Cleaner_____ _____Jewellery______

___________________ ___________________

The Green Hat

The Three Ps

Positive: Every idea is potentially valuable, record all

Prolific: The more ideas the better, build ideas on each other

Playful: It is easier to tame a wild idea, than make a boring idea interesting

The Green Hat

Generate Ideas on

Focus 1: Reducing traffic congestion Focus 2: Increasing leisure time

The Six Thinking Hats

Which hat is? “Retooling will take a minimum of six months” “I am unhappy with the merger” “Our product is the most expensive on the market” “It will increase our profile in the community” “Low staff morale is causing high attrition” “The meeting seems to be drifting” “Joe told me he was worried about a staff issue” “We tried that and the staff are not supportive” “It would be easy to implement a new logo” “We could offer two for the price of one “I am concerned about staff morale “Are we ready to commit to a decision?”

The Six Thinking Hats

Which hat is? – my ideas “Retooling will take a minimum of six months” “I am unhappy with the merger” “Our product is the most expensive on the market” “It will increase our profile in the community” “Low staff morale is causing high attrition” “The meeting seems to be drifting” “Joe told me he was worried about a staff issue” “We tried that and the staff are not supportive” “It would be easy to implement a new logo” “We could offer two for the price of one “I am concerned about staff morale “Are we ready to commit to a decision?”

The Six Thinking Hats

FOCUS

Information & DataNeutral and objectiveChecked and believed factsMissing information & Where to source it

Managing the ThinkingSetting the focusMaking summariesOverviews & conclusionsAction Plans

Why it may not workCautions * DangersProblems * FaultsLogical reasons must be given

Why it may workValues * Benefits(both known and potential)Logical reasons must be given

Creative ThinkingPossibilities * AlternativesNew Ideas * New ThinkingOvercome black hat issuesReinforce yellow hat issues

Feelings and IntuitionEmotions and hunchesNo reasons or justifications“At this point”Keep it short