When you're thinking, you often try to do a lot at the same time and it ends up being confusing and ineffective. Here is a simple but effective way to become a better thinker. Thought can be separated into six different modes that are identified as "six thinking hats":
White: facts, figures, factual information.
Red: emotions and sensations, feelings.
Black: the logical-negative.
Yellow: positive, constructive.
Green: creativity, new ideas.
Blue: control of the other hats and steps to think.
If you "put on" a hat, you can center, focus thought. If you “change” your hat, you can redirect your thinking. If your thinking is precise, your argumentation is more focused and productive.
Using real life situations, Dr. de Bono creates scenarios in which to appreciate how the use of “thinking hats” can:
• Lead to more creative thinking
• Focus and frame thinking clearly
• Improve communication and thus decision making.
A very deliberate process
A calm and carefree state of mind is necessary for any thought to involve more than just reactions to a situation. Instead of being a routine or reactive thought, putting on a certain hat provokes a deliberate thought: you put it on deliberately.
Critical thinking is valid for reacting to what is put in front of you but does nothing to produce proposals. The Western custom of argumentation and dialectics is flawed.
Schoolchildren are very concerned about reacting to what is presented to them; bibliographic material, teachers' comments, TV series, etc. But as soon as the young man finishes school, he will have to do much more than just react. You need initiative, plans and action. And you won't get this from reactive thinking.
I have coined the term operability to refer to this acting thinking. It is the ability to do and the thinking involved.
When a full color map is printed, the colors are separated. First a color is put on the paper. Then another color is printed on top. Then the next and the next until a complete map is in view.
In this book, the six thinking hats correspond to the different colors used to print a map. This is the method I will try to use to direct attention. It is not only a question, therefore, of putting on a hat to think, but also of choosing what color the hat to be used will be.
Intent and performance
Being a thinker does not imply being constantly right. In reality, those who always believe they are right are likely to be a poor thinker (arrogant, without interest in research, unable to see other alternatives, etc.)
Being a thinker does not imply being smart. Nor does it imply that I can solve all the ingenious problems that people present to me by expecting me to solve them all the time.
Being a thinker implies consciously wanting to be one. Therefore, intention is the first step.
The Six Thinking Hats offer a way to translate intention into effective performance.
Play a role (an ego vacation)
People don't mind "playing crazy" as long as it is clear that they are playing a role. Playing someone else allows the ego to transcend the restrictive image it normally has of itself.
The ego is at risk if it is not protected by a formal role. For this reason, habitually negative people take on the role of devil's advocate when they want to be negative. This means assuming that they are not usually negative, but that it is helpful for someone to play this role and that they intend to represent it well. The traditional devil's advocate role is very similar to the black hat to think that I will describe later. But instead of just one thinking role, there will be six, each defined by a different thinking hat.
You choose which thinking hat you adopt at a given time. You put on that hat and play the role that defines that hat. You see yourself playing that role. You will represent it to the best of your ability. Your ego is thus protected by the role. Your ego is committed to representing it well.
When you change your hat to think, you have to change roles. Each role must be different, you become a bunch of different thinkers, all with the same head.
All of this is part of the map-building type of thinking. Each colored hat represents a different color that can be used in printing a map. Finally the colors merge to give the complete map.
The thought now begins to flow from the roles played and not from your ego. In this way the maps are drawn. Thus, finally, the ego can choose the route it prefers.
The purpose of thinking with six hats
The first value of the six thinking hats is the representation of a defined role. The main restriction of thought is the defenses of the ego, responsible for most of the practical errors of thinking. Hats allow us to think and say things that we might not otherwise think or say without risking our ego. Disguising ourselves as clowns authorizes us to act as such.
The second value is to direct attention. If we want our thinking to be more than reactive, we must find a way to direct attention to one aspect after another. The six hats are a means of directing attention to six different aspects of an issue.
The third value is that of convenience. The symbolism of the six different hats offers a convenient way to ask someone (including yourself) to change modes. You can ask someone to be or stop being negative. You can ask someone to give a purely emotional response.
The fourth value arises from establishing the rules of the game. People are very good at learning the rules of the game. One of the most effective ways to teach children is by learning the rules of the game. For this reason, they like to use computers so much. The six thinking hats establish certain rules for the "game" of thinking. And I think of a particular game of thought: that of drawing maps as opposite (or different) from arguing.
Six hats, six colors
- White Hat: White is neutral and objective. The white hat deals with objective facts and figures Red Hat: Red suggests anger, fury and emotions. The red hat gives the emotional point of view. Black Hat: Black is sad and negative. The black hat covers the negative aspects: why something cannot be done. Yellow Hat: Yellow is cheerful and positive. The yellow hat is optimistic and covers hope and positive thinking. Also from the use of other hats. Green Hat: Green is grass, vegetation and fertile, abundant growth. The green hat indicates creativity and new ideas.Blue Hat: Blue is cold and it is also the color of the sky that is above all. The blue hat deals with the control and organization of the thought process.
Pairs of hats
- White and Red Black and Yellow Green and Blue
The hat for its color
In practice, one refers to hats always by their colors, never by their functions. And for good reason; If you ask someone to express their emotional reaction to something, they are unlikely to answer you honestly: it is thought that it is wrong to be emotional. But the expression red hat is neutral.
It is easier to ask someone to "take off their black hat for a moment" than to ask them to stop being so negative. The neutrality of the colors allows the hats to be worn unimpeded.
Thinking becomes a game with definite rules; it is no longer a matter of exhortations and condemnations.
White hat
Imagine a computer that gives the facts and figures that are asked of it. It is neutral and objective. It does not make interpretations or give opinions. When wearing the white hat the thinker should imitate the computer.
The person requesting information must frame and specify the questions in order to obtain information or to fill in gaps in existing information.
In practice there is a double information system. The first level contains verified and proven facts; first-class facts. The second, facts that are believed to be true but have not yet been fully verified; second-class facts.
Credibility ranges from "always true" to "never true." In between are usable levels, such as "generally", "sometimes", and "occasionally". This kind of information can be presented with the white hat, as long as the appropriate “frame” is used to indicate its degree of probability.
The thought of the white hat is a discipline and a direction. The thinker strives to be more neutral and more objective when presenting information.
They can ask you to wear the white hat or you can ask someone else to do it. You can choose to wear it or take it off.
White (absence of color) indicates neutrality.
Red Hat
The use of the red hat allows the thinker to say: “this is how I feel about this matter”.
The red hat legitimizes emotions and feelings as an important part of thinking.
The red hat makes feelings visible so that they can become part of the map and also of the value system that chooses the route on the map.
The hat provides the thinker with a convenient method of getting in and out of the emotional mode. So you can do it in a way that is not possible without this trick or instrument.
The red hat allows the thinker to explore the feelings of others when requesting a red hat point of view.
When a thinker is wearing the red hat, he should never make an attempt to justify feelings or to base them on logic.
The red hat covers two broad types of sentiment. First, common emotions, ranging from strong, such as fear and disgust, to more subtle, such as suspicion. Second, complex judgments, classifiable into types such as hunches, intuitions, sensations, preferences, aesthetic feelings, and other types not perceptibly justifiable. When an opinion consists to a large extent of these types of feelings, it can also be fitted under the red hat.
Black hat
Black hat thinking deals specifically with negative judgment. The thinker in black hat points out what is wrong, what is wrong and what is wrong. The thinker with the black hat points out that something does not conform to experience or accepted knowledge. The thinker in the black hat points out why something is not going to work, points out the risks and dangers, points out the imperfections of a design.
The thought of black hat is not argumentation and it should never be considered such. It is an objective attempt to put negative elements on the map.
The thought of black hat can:
Point out errors in the thought process and in the method itself.
Confront an idea with the past to see if it fits with what is already known
Project an idea into the future to see what could fail or go wrong
Ask negative questions
The thought of black hat should not be used to cover up negative complacency or negative feelings, which should use the red hat.
The positive judgment remains for the yellow hat. If new ideas are presented, the yellow hat should be worn before the black one.
Yellow Hat
The thought of yellow hat is positive and constructive. The yellow color symbolizes the brightness of the sun, luminosity and optimism.
The thought of yellow hat deals with the positive evaluation in the same way that the thought of black hat deals with the negative evaluation.
The thought of yellow hat covers a positive spectrum that goes from the logical and practical aspect to dreams, visions and hopes.
The thought of yellow hat inquires and explores in search of value and benefit. Then try to find logical support for this value and benefit. It tries to express well-founded optimism, but does not limit itself to this, unless other types of optimism are adequately qualified.
The thought of yellow hat is constructive and generative. Concrete proposals and suggestions emerge from it. It deals with operability and making things happen. Efficiency is the goal of constructive thinking in the yellow hat.
The thought of yellow hat can be speculative and seeker of opportunities. It also allows visions and dreams.
The thought of yellow hat does not deal with the mere positive euphoria (red hat) nor, directly, with the creation of new ideas (green hat).
Green hat
The green hat is for creative thinking. The person who wears it is going to use the language of creative thinking. Those around you should see the product as a creative product. Ideally, both the thinker and the listener should wear green hats.
The color green is a symbol of fertility, growth and the value of seeds. The search for alternatives is a fundamental aspect of green hat thinking. It takes going beyond the known, the obvious and the satisfying.
With the creative pause, the thinker in the green hat stops at a given point to consider the possibility of alternative ideas at that point. No reasons are needed for this pause.
In the thought of green hat the language of the movement replaces that of the judgment. The thinker tries to advance from an idea to reach a new one.
Provocation is an important element of green hat thinking and is symbolized by the word OP. Provocations are used to get out of our habitual patterns of thought.
There are several ways to pose provocations, including the random word method.
Lateral thinking is a series of attitudes, languages, and techniques (including movement, provocation, and op) for jumping from patterns into a self-organizing system of asymmetric patterns. It is used to generate concepts and perceptions.
Blue hat
The blue hat is the hat of control. The thinker in the blue hat organizes thought itself. Thinking with the blue hat is thinking about the thought necessary to investigate the subject. The thinker in the blue hat is like the conductor. He is the one who proposes or calls for the use of the other hats.
The thinker in the blue hat defines the issues towards which thought should be directed.
The thought of blue hat:
- Establishes the focus Defines the problems and elaborates the questions Determines the thinking tasks to be developed Is responsible for the synthesis, the global vision and the conclusions. This can occur from time to time during the course of thought and also at the end Monitors thinking and ensures respect for the rules of the game Stops discussion and insists on cartographic thinking Reinforces and applies discipline
You can use the blue hat thought in eventual interruptions to ask for a hat. It can also be used to establish a gradual sequence of thought operations that must be respected, just as a dance respects choreography.
Even when a person is assigned the specific role of the blue hat thought, this role is open to anyone who wants to propose blue hat comments or suggestions.
conclusion
The greatest enemy of thought is complexity, because it leads to confusion. When the thought is clear and simple, it is more pleasant and effective. The concept of the six thinking hats is very simple. Its use is also very simple.
The concept of the six thinking hats has two central purposes. The first is to simplify thinking, allowing the thinker to try one thing after another. Instead of taking charge of emotions, logic, information, hope, and creativity at the same time, the thinker can deal with them separately. Instead of using logic to half cover an emotion, the thinker can bring that emotion to the surface through the red hat and without the need to justify it. The black hat to think can then treat the logical aspect.
The second central purpose of the six thinking hats is to allow for variation in thinking. A person who in the course of a meeting has been continuously negative, may be asked to remove her "black hat". This signals to the person that they are being persistently negative. This person can also be asked to wear the "yellow hat." This is a direct request to be positive. In this way, the six hats provide a language that, without being offensive, is precise. The most important thing is that this language does not threaten the ego or the personality of the subject. It becomes a performance or even a game. The six hats allow you to ask yourself to think in certain ways. The hats are thus a kind of instructive shorthand.
I am not implying that we should consciously wear one hat or another at all times. This is completely unnecessary. On some occasions we may want to wear all the hats in a formally structured sequence; in these cases we should expose the structure in advance. More often we will want to put on one or the other hat with some formality in the course of a discussion. Or we may want to ask one of those present to wear a certain hat. At first this may seem a bit strange but over time it will seem very natural.
Obviously, language achieves maximum utility if all members of an organization are aware of the rules of the game. For example, everyone who is used to meeting to discuss should know the meaning of the different hats. The concept works best when it becomes a kind of common language.
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