Adapted from Gary DichtenbergCyberSkills, Inc.

Creative Problem Solving with

Six Thinking HatsHow to use Edward deBono’s

parallel thinking in problem solving

Goals of this program

• Define parallel thinking• Identify each of the six hats• Learn how to ask a good question• Apply six hats method to problem solving

What is parallel thinking?

At any moment everyone is looking in the same direction.

Edward de Bono

• is a physician, author, inventor, and consultant. He is known as the originator of the term lateral thinking, wrote a best selling book Six Thinking Hats.

• He has written 82 books with translations into 41 languages. He has taught his thinking methods to government agencies, corporate clients, organisations and individuals, privately or publicly in group sessions.

• De Bono has developed a range of 'deliberate thinking techniques' - which emphasise thinking as a deliberate act.

• De Bono's techniques are used in companies like IBM, DuPont. Agencies offer corporate training courses based on his techniques think outside the box.

So the six hats are…?

• Six colors of hats for six types of thinking– Each hat identifies a type of thinking– Hats are directions of thinking

• Hats help a group use parallel thinking– You can “put on” and “take off” a hat

Uses for Six Hats

• Problem solving • Strategic planning• Running meetings• Much more

Six colors…

• White: neutral, objective• Red: emotional, angry• Black: serious, somber• Yellow: sunny, positive• Green: growth, fertility• Blue: cool, sky above

…and six hats

• White: objective facts & figures• Red: emotions & feelings• Black: cautious & careful• Yellow: hope, positive & speculative• Green: creativity, ideas & lateral thinking• Blue: control & organization of thinking

General hat issues• Direction, not description– Set out to think in a certain direction– “Let’s have some black hat thinking…”

• Not categories of people– Not: “He’s a black hat thinker.”– Everyone can and should use all the hats

• A constructive form of showing off– Show off by being a better thinker– Not destructive right vs. wrong argument

• Use in whole or in part

Benefits of Six Thinking Hats

• Provides a common language• Experience & intelligence of each person

(Diversity of thought)• Use more of our brains• Helps people work against type, preference• Removal of ego (reduce confrontation)• Save time• Focus (one thing at a time)• Create, evaluate & implement action plans

Using the hats

• Use any hat, as often as needed• Sequence can be preset or evolving• Not necessary to use every hat• Time under each hat: generally, short• Requires discipline from each person– While using it, stay in the idiom

• Adds an element of play, play along• Can be used by individuals and groups

The blue hat

• Thinking about thinking• Instructions for thinking• The organization of thinking• Control of the other hats• Discipline and focus

• Control• Responsible for

Conclusions• Sets the Focus• Use of All the Hats

The blue hat role

• Control of thinking & the process• Begin & end session with blue hat• Facilitator, session leader’s role• Choreography– open, sequence, close– Focus: what should we be thinking about– Asking the right questions– Defining & clarifying the problem– Setting the thinking tasks

Open with the blue hat…

• Why we are here• what we are thinking about• definition of the situation or problem• alternative definitions• what we want to achieve• where we want to end up• the background to the thinking• a plan for the sequence of hats

…and close with the blue hat

• What we have achieved• Outcome• Conclusion• Design• Solution• Next steps

White Hat Thinking

• Neutral, objective information• Facts & figures • Questions: what do we know, what don’t we know, what

do we need to know• Excludes opinions, hunches, judgements• Removes feelings & impressions• Two tiers of facts

– Believed Facts– Checked Facts

Neutral & objective Deal with facts

Red Hat Thinking

• Emotions & feelings• Hunches, intuitions, impressions• Doesn’t have to be logical or consistent• No justifications, reasons or basis• All decisions are emotional in the end

Yellow Hat Thinking

• Positive & speculative• Positive thinking, optimism, opportunity• Benefits• Hopeful• Constructive• Best-case scenarios• Exploration

Green Hat Thinking

• New ideas, concepts, perceptions• Deliberate creation of new ideas• Alternatives and more alternatives• New approaches to problems• Creative & lateral thinking

Black Hat Thinking

• Cautious and careful• Logical negative – why it won’t work• Critical judgement, pessimistic view• Lays out risks• Separates logical negative from emotional• Focus on errors, evidence, conclusions• Logical & truthful, but not necessarily fair

Six hats summaryBlue: control & organization of thinking

White: objective facts & figures

Red: emotions & feelings

Yellow: hope, positive & speculative

Green: creativity, ideas & lateral thinking

Black: cautious & careful

Results of Six Hat Thinking

• Deriving power from focused thinking• Saving time• Removing ego from decisions• Doing one thing at a time

Asking the right question

• We can’t get the right answer if we ask the wrong question

• Crucial blue hat skill• One technique: five whys

Creative Problem Solving

Paul Reali • CyberSkills, Inc.

“Traditional” CPS

• Mess-finding• Data-finding• Problem-finding• Idea-finding• Solution-finding• Acceptance-finding

Common idea-finding methods

• Brainstorming• Mind Maps• Free association• Freewriting• Incubation

Six hats & problem solving

• A more deliberate process than CPS• Like CPS, uses creativity (green hat)• Unlike CPS, provides a mechanism for

evaluating ideas & making decisions