About

Edward

DeBono

SIX THINKING HATS

“Your success depends on how well you think.”

Edward DeBono -Author of Six Thinking Hats

 VOCABULARY WORDS | USEAGE

All descriptions below are paraphrased from Edward DeBono’s Six Thinking Hats

WHITE HAT

WHITE HAT – Neutral and objective (not influenced by emotion or prejudice). Concerned with facts and figures. Think about how the computer works (yes/no; true/false; on/off.) Sometimes decisions are easily made because White Hat thinking is used when people clearly know what is right from what is wrong.

RED HAT

RED HAT – The emotional view. Red Hat thinking is important for people working in groups to be honest about how they really feel before making a decision. Sometimes Red Hat thinking is what starts the whole decision-making process. If Red Hat thinking becomes too emotional we may not think clearly and carefully enough to make a good decision.

BLACK HAT

BLACK HAT – Careful and cautious. People use Black Hat thinking to consider what can go wrong. People sometimes confuse this hat with being bad or mean, but it is not! Black Hat thinking is extremely important for people to think realistically, and to understand what the possible consequences of their actions may be.

YELLOW HAT

YELLOW HAT – Sunny and positive. Yellow Hat thinking is constructive, always looking on the bright side or the plus side of what is possible. The Yellow Hat is used to look for what works with the aim of building upon and strengthening what already exists. The Yellow Hat optimistic view can lead people to decide to use the Green Hat for more creative ideas.

GREEN HAT

GREEN HAT – Growth and creativity. The person who puts on the Green Hat is interested in creative thinking and new ideas. This requires people to allow themselves to get away from more traditional ways of thinking and doing things. Sometimes random word-association, or shapes can lead to creative ideas not traditionally thought of.

BLUE HAT

BLUE HAT – Cool as a blue sky, the Blue Hat is the organizing hat. This hat is worn to get an overview or frame of the situation by defining the problem and the questions to be answered. The Blue Hat thinker takes control and decides which of the other hats may need to be used.  It is often a good idea to start and finish with the Blue Hat.

USEAGE – The Six Thinking Hats activities are for use at school to improve the thinking skills of children.

The Thinking Hats can be used in different ways:

1. People can use just one hat to solve a problem.
2. People can use more than one hat – up to all six as needed – to solve a problem.
3. People should agree to use the same color hat - one hat at a time.
4. Each person should have one minute to speak wearing the same hat. This is the POWER of Six Hat Thinking. When everyone wears the same hat they are contributing to the same line or style of thinking. This makes the decision process more efficient because no one should be arguing. If someone is arguing then that person is probably wearing a different color hat - which is against the rules.

VOCABULARY WORDS

Paraphrased from http://www.thefreedictionary.com

CROSS-CONSTRUCT CONNECTIONS

This model examines possible connections between the Thinking Hats and Decision Chain.

ABOUT EDWARD DeBONO – From the back cover of  Six Thinking Hats:

“Edward DeBono was a Rhodes scholar (international award for study at a university) at Oxford and has held faculty appointments at Oxford, Cambridge, London, and Harvard universities. He has served as a consultant to many international corporations, including IBM, Exxon, DuPont, Prudential, Procter & Gamble, General Foods, Shell, BP, Monsanto, and Ford.”

SOME USEFUL QUOTES FROM EDWARD DeBONNO:

“The main difficulty of thinking is confusion…We try to do too much at once. Emotions, information, logic, hope and creativity all crowd in on us. It is like juggling with too many balls…”

NOTES ON THE NEW ADDITION OF THE BOOK FROM EDWARD DeBONO:

The books has been around for 14 years and the Six Thinking Hats method is being used around the world by different ages and cultures.

“ People are sometimes hesitant about the hats and colors because they do not seem serious enough….In practice…people realize they need the hats and colors as simple mental hooks…much easier to remember than complicated terms…”

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