Six Thinking Hats

I recently finished the book "Six Thinking Hats" by Edward De Bono, and I really loved what I read! I thought I would share with you some of the better highlights because this book can be applied to many facets of life.

In what I could only categorize as a "Self-Help" book, De Bono teaches readers the 6 different thinking modes we need to be aware of so that we can isolate them in order to improve our thinking. The book is meant to help business with their lines of thinking, however I really see this as being something anyone could use for anything: family counsels, in a classroom, doing homework, preparing a talk or a debate, when you are the leader of any sort of project or group.

The first thinking hat is White, and it is all about the facts and information. When called to think with the white hat, only facts and figures can be added to the conversation. There is no emotion, no expansion, and no judgement on those facts. You just analyze the very basic structure of facts and put them out on the table.

The second thinking hat is Red, where you take all of those facts and speak about your emotional reasoning. Statements such as "I think..." or "I feel..." are acceptable during this time. You do not have to justify your feelings, but you can.

The third thinking hat is Yellow, which is all about optimism. Participants in the conversation can only bring up reasonable positive statements, such as "This will work because..." or "If we can get this accomplished, we will be able to do this..." There is no debate allowed during this part of the discussion. This part of the discussion is actually meant to energize everyone about the project, idea, or discussion.

The fourth thinking hat is Black, which is all about pessimism. When using this hat, all participants can only bring up judgement about what has been said. They can disagree with someones feelings, they can disagree with the facts that have been stated. They can in general share any cautions that they think need to be addressed. During this time, there is no debate or rebuttal as well.

The fifth thinking hat is Green, which is usually the problem solving hat because it involves coming up with alternatives and being creative. Don't like what has already been shared or where the conversation is heading? Bring up some creative alternatives during this time. Need more ideas or prompts? Have a creative thinking session here.

The last hat is the Blue hat, which is usually worn by the person leading the conversation. They are in charge of keeping everyone on track, letting everyone know what hats they should be wearing at a certain time, and keeping track of the progress and ideas that everyone comes up with.

Overall, these hats can be worn in any order to accomplish something. Discussions about who gets to do what, what you are actually going to be doing, etc. can all be accomplished through this method. I would highly recommend reading the book (even though it is quite old!) if you think that there would ever be a time when you have to discuss something that two people disagree on - so basically everything. The best part of this line of thinking is that you don't have to announce that you are using black thinking or that you are switching hats - the format in general will help you to better formulate your arguments. If you start with laying out the general facts, moving on to emotional appeals, stating the positive outcomes and countering the negative outcomes, you have a great argument!

I thought that this book was a breeze to read through as well, and I can't wait to try it out with kiddos some day in a classroom! Imagine being able to organize everyone's thinking before they sit down to write a paper or stand up to give a presentation! Plus making the hats would be freaking sweet!