De Bono 6 thinking hats

1. “THINK LEFT AND THINK
RIGHT AND THINK LOW
AND THINK HIGH.
OH THE THINKS YOU CAN
THINK UP, IF YOU ONLY TRY”
DR SEUSS

2. EDWARD DE BONO
Maltese physician, author,
inventor and consultant.
He originated the term
lateral thinking, wrote
the book Six Thinking Hats
and is a proponent of
the teaching of thinking
as a subject in schools.

3. INTELLIGENCE (IQ) + THINKING

4. INTELLIGENCE (IQ)
The horse power of the car,
the engineering, suspension
= potential of the car.

5. THINKING
The performance of the car
isn’t determined by its
potential, but of the skill
of the driver.

6. INTELLIGENCE (IQ) + THINKING
is the skill of which it is used.is the potential of the mind (speed of neurons)

7. METHODS OF
THINKING

8. ARGUMENT
A&B have opposing views
and seek to prove
each other wrong.
Lacks constructive,
creative energy,
and design.
Useful for discovering
the truth.
“If we can show what is wrong,
then what is right will appear”

9. PARALLEL
THINKING
A&B direct attention in
the same direction
cooperatively.
Need to vary the direction
... 6 hats.

10. 6
THINKING HATS

11. 6
THINKING HATS
Imaginary metaphorical
hats that represent
different frameworks
of thinking.
One hat at a time

12. WHITE HAT
Think paper, computer
print outs and facts.
Focus on information
• what is available
• what is missing
• how are we going to get
the information we need.

13. RED HAT
Think warmth, feelings,
intuition and emotions.
Signal feelings
• put forward any
emotions or gut feelings
without explanation.

14. BLACK HAT
Think Judges robes.
Focus on evaluation
• risk assessment
• caution
• critical
Excellent hat, however very easy to
overuse. Like wine or food which
are inherently good, too much leads
to problems. Not the fault of the
food or wine, but overuse.

15. YELLOW HAT
Think Sunny.
Focus on logical positive
• look for benefits
• look for values
• how we can make
something work- must
show the logical reasons.

16. GREEN HAT
Think vegetation, growth,
sprouts branches.
Focus on creativity
• effort to generate ideas
• look for alternatives
• possibilities
• provocation and lateral
thinking.
Possibility, and a new possibility.

17. BLUE HAT
Think sky, overview.
Unlike the other hats that
are looking at the subject...
BLUE looks at processes
of thinking
• how we define a
situation
• concerned with decision
• summary and outcome.

18. WHY WEAR
THE HATS?
Allows us to move away
from argument, think in
parallel, get a full view
of the subject.
Benefit: use all information,
intelligence and experience
of anyone at any moment.
Wouldn’t that be nice?

19. THINK OPTIMALLY
Separate out modes of
thinking
• to balance the use of
neuro transmitters
&
•EGO. Shift balance from
ego to performance value

20. “GET YOUR
BEHAVIOUR RIGHT
AND THE REST
WILL FOLLOW”
Confucius