Six thinking hats method by Edward de Bono

Let's talk about a method that helps to restore order in our heads, curb spontaneity, the disorderly flow of our thoughts. Every moment a whirlwind of thoughts, experiences, memories, doubts rushes through our heads. Often this leads to the fact that we cannot understand our feelings and desires, we get lost in the face of the unknown and postpone making decisions or completely give up on what seems like an impossible task.

Have you ever wondered how you can sort everything out, structure your thoughts, consciously apply your thinking, and easily teach this to children in the form of a game?

And the method of six hats by Edward de Bono, a psychologist, author of a series of books, scientist and practitioner, specialist in the development of creative, non-standard thinking, will help us with this. Let's take a closer look at the essence of this method of thinking.

The idea of six hats allows you to choose the right approach to business and break down your thinking into its components. It is based on parallel or critical thinking. This is a type of brainstorming. Here different approaches and ideas live together, in parallel. They are not opposed to each other, but help to consider the situation from different angles and find a new, unexpected solution.

The six hats method is especially good when solving creative problems; it helps you see all aspects, all sides of a solution, and develops mental flexibility.

Six de Bono hats - six colors

Each of the six hats has its own color, associated with its purpose and practical use, and helps to more clearly imagine and remember the hat of one - it will be a top hat, for another - a cap, for a third - something else. The essence is not in the form, but in the color and content.

White hat. Comprehensive, detached and non-judgmental pure color. We speak succinctly, we consider only facts, real examples. An outside, objective observer.

Red hat . Fiery color, emotionality and tension. By trying on this image, we give full freedom to let our feelings out.

Black hat . Perception of the world in dark colors, a critical attitude towards everything and negativism.

Yellow hat . Warm and bright color of positive emotions and a positive outlook on life.

Green hat . Fresh and new views, creativity, original approach, creative solutions.

Blue hat . “Collected”, cool color, analogy with responsibility and organization, the ability to manage and make decisions, coordinate work.

Hats that think

White hat thinking. When putting on a white hat, you need to concentrate on all the data that is available: these are facts and numbers. You also need to think about possible missing information and ways to fill such gaps.
The red hat is the hat of emotions. Staying in this mode, you can succumb to emotions. A person must be honest with himself, or with other interlocutors if we are talking about a group discussion. Everyone should share their experiences, fears, and joy when analyzing a particular decision. There is no need to be afraid of negative emotions, since they, along with positive ones, play a role in making the right decision.
The next hat is responsible for optimism. The yellow hat only implies a positive attitude. When putting it on, you need to identify the positive aspects of each of the decisions or ideas. Even if the option under discussion does not seem to bode well, it is important to work out the hidden profitable resources.
The exact opposite of a yellow hat is a black one. Here we need to think about the hidden threats lurking in every decision. What pitfalls await a person in this or another scenario of events. What will be the losses and can they be avoided? It will be easy to imagine yourself as a pessimist, because in every decision there is always a share of negative phenomena.
A green hat signifies flight of fancy and creativity. The green hat encourages the search for new, non-standard solutions. Bold ideas, improving existing work, spying on opponents’ methods, brainstorming - all this takes place in the “green hat” mode.
The blue hat is the hat of thinking through the implementation of the chosen idea, turning it into reality. You no longer need to think about the advantages and disadvantages, just implement a thoughtful decision.

What can you learn from the six hats method?

Offering a new way of thinking, hats help us get used to a new role, to be in an image that is unusual for us, thereby developing the versatility of thinking.
This is an effective method of managing your attention. Agree, it would be great to be able to direct your attention. As a result, efficiency in learning and work will increase.
Six thinking hats teach you to negotiate, find the right solution in a conflict situation, reach agreements, and express accumulated emotions.
It will be important for a child to be able to play according to the rules suggested by the 6 hats method. Children quickly learn these rules and begin to play “people with a certain type of thinking,” applying new knowledge in practice.
The six hats method, as understood by Edward de Bono, acts on the brain so that neurotransmitters are aligned in a certain ratio. This leads to the destruction of stereotypical patterns of human response under stress and teaches one to think creatively and respond outside the box to sudden difficulties.

What to think about and what hat to wear

Which way of thinking should you choose when wearing hats of different colors? Each hat has its own role, we try it on to play role-play.

The white hat is the role of the scientist. In it we collect, analyze and summarize data, we do not evaluate. Questions that interest us:

What do we know?
What don't we know?
What do you need to know?
How and where to get the necessary information?

The red hat is the role of an artist, an artist. In it we completely immerse ourselves in our experiences, emotions, sensations, listen to our hearts, and trust. She is irrational, sensitive and spontaneous. Red Hat Questions:

What do I really want?
What I feel?
What does my intuition say?
What is important to me?

The black hat is the role of a cautious, critical person. It involves the use of logical thinking and analysis. This is where you can and should consider the difficulties and shortcomings, discover the pitfalls, but without fear, conduct a thorough analysis of the expected problems. Questions relevant to this role:

What should I be afraid of?
What are the weak points?
What difficulties might there be?
What mistakes should you avoid?

The yellow hat is the role of an optimist, a positive and confident person. We put it on and believe in the best, in our strengths, we see good prospects and are firmly confident in a favorable outcome. Questions important here:

How to achieve it?
What opportunities are open to me?
How to improve?
What are your strengths?
How interesting is this idea?

The green hat is the role of a creative person, an individualist. The emphasis is on finding new solutions, a creative and non-standard view of what is happening. This is eccentricity and atypical behavior. Green Hat asks:

How to choose both?
What else can be changed?
How to make it even more interesting?
What's the best way to solve the problem?

The blue hat is the role of a leader, a person who manages all processes. Hat over hats. She summarizes the activities of all role hats, organizes the entire process, sets goals, monitors execution, sums up the results and draws conclusions. In this role we ask the following questions:

What tasks?
What to do first?
How to distribute responsibilities?
What result are we aiming for?
What conclusions can be drawn?

Thus, de Bono’s six hats illuminate the problem from all sides and help develop attentiveness and multitasking thinking. Hats can be worn one at a time, in any convenient order. Or just one or two to choose from, depending on the situation. The method allows you to choose a hat at your discretion. To complete the picture, it is advisable to try on all six hats considered in this method.

Walt Disney's strategy

The emergence of the technique

There is a wonderful story about how Walt Disney's strategy came about. While discussing cartoon ideas with employees, Disney noticed that they reacted differently to his proposals:

Some people are happy to get involved in the creative process, begin to fantasize and develop ideas.
Others try to relate new ideas to reality and are focused on their implementation.
Still others see the flaws first and convincingly explain why the new idea won’t take off.

And then, as the legend goes, Walt Disney placed employees on three floors of his tower. The dreamers settled on the top floor. They had floor-length panoramic windows, and the clouds floated so close that they could tickle their bellies. Inspired by the prospect, dreamers had to come up with the craziest, most creative and amazing ideas, without looking back at the difficulties of implementation. Their thinking should not be limited by anything.

The middle floor was occupied by realists. With pigeons (day) and owls (night), they received ideas from dreamers, and realists had to figure out how to implement these ideas. They worked through a step-by-step implementation, took into account technical, legal and financial constraints and sent realistic plans down to the basement where the critics sat.

The critics would lay out the plans on tables, shine a lamp on them, and look for any defects or weaknesses. Their task was to identify all the risks and flaws of future projects, bringing down the full power of critical thinking on the decisions of realists.

Then all the critics' objections were returned to the realists so that they could make improvements, and if the realists could not offer a solution, then the dreamers were invited to meditate on a new problem among the owls and clouds. Walt Disney's strategy allowed everyone to do what they loved and contribute to the overall result. An excellent method of organizing work, isn’t it?

How to Use Walt Disney Technique

The Walt Disney approach is used in coaching and NLP (neurolinguistic programming) and helps clients expand their thinking and look at a situation from three perspectives: creative, realistic and critical. The technique is very flexible and allows:

Go beyond the usual boundaries and come up with a non-standard solution;
Reconcile your own contradictions, deal with the resistance that interferes with your work;
Work out the risks and find ways to minimize them;
Draw up a detailed action plan.

The technique can be used for group work, or for individual work (in this case, one person must sequentially change three roles and make decisions for each). To make it easier for you to get used to the roles of a dreamer, a realist and a critic, take three sheets of paper, write “Dreamer”, “Realist”, “Critic” on them and lay them out on the floor. And then move from sheet to sheet and consider from each role the problem you are going to solve. You can also use chairs instead of sheets for this purpose.

From the role of a dreamer, you can not only work out a creative solution, but also strengthen your intention to solve the problem. For example, you decided to create digital media that will put your competitors to shame. You can think about unusual formats, interactivity in articles, content that will change depending on user behavior on the page. Or you can focus on your own state and imagine:

How will you feel at the moment of triumph?
What will change in your life?
Who will you become when you achieve your goal?
What will you learn?
How will the decisions you make change?

A view from the future, when the goal has been achieved, helps to remove barriers and doubts, and at the same time understand how the context will change. After all, we often don’t think about the fact that having achieved a significant goal, we will change (even if only a little) the world around us and change ourselves.

As a realist, it is useful to ask yourself:

What needs to be done to achieve the goal?
What resources already exist?
What resources are missing and where to get them?
When is the result needed?
Who can help? How to reach these people?

If you have an ambitious goal, then a realist may become overwhelmed and say that this task cannot be solved. But these are the thoughts of a critic. A realist does not say that a task is impossible, he can only point out that more competence, money, time or information is needed to make a decision. Therefore, all critical comments, if they arise at this stage, need to be written down and given to the critic.

When the plan is drawn up, you can release the critic into the arena. It is important that he criticizes not the idea itself, but the implementation plan. The critic’s task is to check the strength of the plan:

How feasible is it?
What are the risks?
What could go wrong?
What was not taken into account in the plan?
Who can interfere with implementation?

You need to write out objections and concerns until they dry up. This will help get rid of hidden resistance and discover all the pitfalls. After this, the plan must be returned to the realist for revision, and if some of the objections turn out to be too much for him, they must be formulated as separate problems and a creative dreamer must be involved in solving them. It usually takes several iterations before the critic calms down and recognizes the plan as realistic. To better understand the method, let's look at what it might look like to solve a real business problem.

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The Walt Disney Method: An Example of Effective Use

Problem. The head of an advertising agency faced a problem. The agency has been working steadily for a long time, but is not growing. Department heads are busy with operations and projects - they don’t have time to develop the agency. And the head of the agency does not want to follow everyone with a stick, fight with employees and forcefully initiate changes. But he also cannot accept the idea that the agency will not develop. What should he do? This is where Walt Disney's method comes in handy.

First iteration

A Dreamer's Proposal . What if you get interested in the development of the employees themselves? Make the team itself responsible for the results of its work? Currently, employees are not motivated to do this, and managers do not have time to innovate. And when managers have time, employees have no desire to work in a new way, and they sabotage the changes (sometimes unconsciously, simply by not showing due diligence).

But if the team becomes one, then the confrontation between employees and managers will disappear. They will stand on one side of the fence and will be interested in the growth of the agency. They will be able to test new approaches and implement those that work better. It turns out that the agency will develop on its own. Isn't that cool?!

The Realist's Solution . For a team to work harmoniously, you need a person who will set the right course. He should not lead the team and explain to it what needs to be done, but he should set guidelines, set goals, etc. Otherwise, confusion and vacillation will arise.

You also need to motivate all team members and reward them for growth. For example, if profits have increased, then the team receives part of this profit, then people will be interested in participating in it.

Feedback from a critic . The solution is weak. The team will not be able to organize itself if it is not kicked. There will definitely be an employee who will take a task and not complete it. In addition, the team will get bogged down when it starts testing complex solutions that are long and tedious to implement. Everything will go to hell.

Second iteration

The Realist's Solution . This means that someone from the team needs to take on the task of ensuring that the participants comply with the agreements. He should collect feedback, ask how things are going, if there are any problems. And if there is, then I would find solutions to these problems. This will help the team not get bogged down in problems.

And the team should take into work only those hypotheses that can be quickly implemented and seen whether they work or not.

Feedback from a critic . This decision is also questionable. The team will take on any hypotheses to work on. Some of them will be completely useless for business. For example, they will begin to work hard on customer focus and satisfy any client’s wishes at the expense of the company, of course. They will spend a lot of money and time, but there will be no benefit.

Third iteration

The Realist's Solution . This means that strict requirements must be formulated for the hypotheses that the team will take into work. For example, so that they can be implemented and tested in 2 weeks. And the hypotheses themselves related to metrics important for the agency. Let's say, attracting customers, average bill, conversion per transaction, project profitability.

Feedback from a critic . All this is great, but it is not enough to test the hypothesis; it must be implemented. The more hypotheses that prove themselves, the more they will need to be implemented, and this is a lot of time. The team will simply drown in innovation and get tired.

Fourth iteration

The Realist's Solution . This means that the team must first test the hypotheses and find useful ones, and then return to normal mode and implement them, stopping testing new hypotheses for a while. The difference will be that the team will be motivated to implement them, because they chose them themselves and made sure that they work. Leaders won't have to kick anyone.

As you can see, in 4 iterations, from a vague idea that came to the dreamer, we managed to come to a very specific solution.

Where the six thinking hats are used

The use of six thinking hats is possible in a wide variety of areas of life, in personal (to solve a difficult situation, an important issue, in order to better understand oneself and the motives of one’s actions, to regulate controversial issues and conflicts), work (as a variant of brainstorming, to search a non-standard way to get out of any situation, promote a product, increase sales and sell services). Many well-known global companies use this technique successfully.

The 6 hats method also works for children starting from 6-7 years of age. For parents, this is an excellent opportunity to develop their children's creative thinking in a playful way, a way to avoid one-sided judgments in the future and to use their mental potential to the fullest. The technique can be adapted for home use, in kindergartens, for school and extracurricular activities.

Reviews and comments

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Pros and cons of practical application

Let's start with the shortcomings, there are very few of them. The only disadvantages of the six-hat method are:

Some difficulty in applying the method. The problem is that it takes time to master the technique.
It is difficult to introduce and apply an innovation in a group; in personal practice everything is easier.
The “childishness” of the 6 hats method may be the reason for the adult team’s frivolous attitude and reluctance to apply it. The task of the moderator (blue hat) is to influence this decision. Children will accept the idea with excitement and pleasure.

This is where the disadvantages end, and there will undoubtedly be more advantages. We have already mentioned some of them:

De Bono's six hats turn boring thought processes into a fun and exciting game, making them exciting and interesting, and are enthusiastically accepted by children.
There is a property of the brain that considers everything new to be false, incorrect. It is our mind that protects its integrity, and the six hats method makes it possible to comprehensively consider a new idea, to see what was previously inaccessible to understanding.
Allows you to consider all sides - informational, creative, emotional, strong and weak points, and draw objective conclusions.
We learn to speak out, give another person such an opportunity and resolve controversial issues peacefully.
The six thinking hats train our attention, making it concentrated, capable of switching from one object to another arbitrarily, at our request.
De Bono hats promote the emergence of new, creative thoughts through orderly, structured thinking. When ideas do not contradict, but complement each other and are in unity, all brain activity is aimed at generating suitable solutions.
With the help of thought hats, shy people can easily be drawn into dialogue. It is easier for them to express their opinion, even the opposite opinion of others, on behalf of the hat. Over time, they will become more confident in defending their position in life.
And, as we have already said, this is the ability to influence the balance of brain chemicals - neurotransmitters.
The 6 hats method allows you to cope with emotions that interfere with doing business, confusion in the face of the unknown, both from a large amount of information and from many different points of view. Develops confidence in yourself and your abilities.

How to use the tool

E. de Bono, speaking about the practice of applying his method, notes the following.

Decisions are born from debate, and in it the opinion that is more successfully defended often wins, and not the one that takes into account the interests of the entire team or possible advantages as much as possible.

Based on this observation, the author of the technique proposed a significantly different approach - parallel thinking, where six hats are the tool for achieving it.

The point is that the problem should be considered not in the struggle of arguments and ideas, but in their unity.

In other words, the technique implies choosing the best not through a collision of ideas in order to select the strongest and most viable, but their parallel peaceful coexistence, in which they are evaluated sequentially, independently of each other.

The use of the six hats technique can be figuratively represented as a drawing with multi-colored pencils. A colorful picture is obtained only when you use the whole gamut of colors.

So in the case of de Bono’s method, a complete vision of the situation occurs after all six hats have been put on in turn:

White hat. When we try on this headgear, we focus on the data at our disposal. We are trying to understand what information is missing, where to find it, how to use already known facts and conclusions to solve the problem.

White hat is, in fact, a retrospective method of cognition that is used to identify cause-and-effect relationships and patterns in the development of phenomena.

Red hat. By putting it on, we turn on our intuition and feelings. What does your inner voice tell you?

Intuitive guesses and sensations at this stage are very important, since they allow one to judge the emotional background and attitude to the problem through the prism of human feelings.

If the discussion is collective, it is important to try to understand other people's answers, the driving forces and the background of the solutions they propose. To do this, everyone needs to be truthful and sincere, not hide their real feelings and experiences.

To do this, everyone needs to be truthful and sincere, not hide their real feelings and experiences.

Black hat. In it you have to be a pessimist, but with a healthy dose of criticism. Proposed solutions to the problem are assessed for possible risks in the future, further development of difficult and unforeseen situations.

Try to find weak points in every idea and pay attention to them. The black hat should be used primarily by those who have already achieved success and are accustomed to thinking positively, because often these are the people who tend to underestimate perceived difficulties

The black hat should be used primarily by those who have already achieved success and are accustomed to thinking positively, because often these are the people who tend to underestimate perceived difficulties.

Yellow hat. It is the opposite of black and implies an optimistic, positive view of the problem.

Highlight the strengths and benefits of each solution.

This is especially important if all the options seem rather gloomy. The green hat is responsible for creativity, the search for unusual ideas and extraordinary views.

The green hat is responsible for creativity, the search for unusual ideas and extraordinary views.

No assessments of previously proposed solutions, only their further development by any available means (mental maps, focal objects, associations and other tools for activating creative thinking).

The blue hat is not directly associated with making a decision. It is worn by the leader - the one who sets goals at the beginning and sums up the work at the end. He manages the entire process - he gives the floor to everyone, monitors compliance with the topic.

Rules of the Six Thinking Hats Method

This method is quite universal. It can be used individually, for one person, or when working with a group. In the second case, two role-playing options are available:

Everyone puts on hats of the same color and roles change at the same time.
Each participant or group of participants is assigned a role that does not change until the end of the game.

Roles are given to participants that are opposite to their characters.

The rules for teamwork are as follows:

The moderator controls the game - sets the rules, monitors their implementation, maintains order, distributes roles, takes notes, sums up the results. The moderator is a blue hat. The game begins with an introduction to de Bono's six hats technique. Then the moderator proposes a problematic situation, a task that requires a solution.
Players put on hats of the same color (if the participants are divided into groups, they take turns speaking, starting with a group of white hats) and describe the problem based on their color role.
The order of changing hats is not strict, but it is recommended to first find out all the information in the white hat, then proceed to assess the risk and problem side in the black hat. Yellow will help you identify your strengths and believe in a positive outcome.
After that, it's time for the green, creative hat. With the recognition of all the subtleties and objective information, we begin to see the whole picture and look for alternative solutions, non-standard combinations, and creative moves.
The red hat is worn occasionally, for a short time. It allows you to give vent to your emotions and listen to your inner voice. If you wear it for a long time, the situation will get out of control due to the intensity of passions.
New ideas are double-checked with yellow and black hats, and the blue hat summarizes the data obtained.

The optimal sequence of working with hats is selected empirically, since there are no strict regulations dictating the order.

Features of the method

In color printing, the primary colors are applied separately to the paper. But in the end they all mix and produce a color print.

The Six Hats Method is an application of the same principle to thinking: trying to learn to pay attention to different aspects of thinking one at a time. As a result, the combination of these different aspects gives rise to thinking in its entirety

Six metaphorical hats of different colors represent each of the main types of thinking. More hats would be cumbersome and confusing. Anything less is not adequate.

The six thinking hats are designed for creative and constructive thinking that complement evaluative and analytical thinking.

Rules for using hats

When we put on our thinking hat, we assume the role that the hat indicates.
By taking off a specific color hat, we move away from this type of thinking.
When changing one hat to another, there is an instant switch in thinking. This method allows you to encourage a change in the train of thought without offending the person. We do not attack the thoughts expressed, but ask for change.
To indicate your opinion, you can simply name the hat and thereby show what type of thinking is intended to be used. For example, simply saying that you are wearing a black hat allows you to discuss an idea without attacking the person who proposed it.

Six thinking hats

Red hat.

The color red brings to mind fire. The red hat is associated with emotions, intuition, feelings and premonitions. There is no need to justify anything here. Your feelings exist, and the red hat provides an opportunity to express them.

Yellow hat.

The color yellow evokes sunshine and optimism. Under the yellow hat, we try to find the advantages and benefits of the proposal, prospects and possible gains, and identify hidden resources.

Black hat

The color black is reminiscent of a judge's robe and signifies caution. Black hat is a mode of criticism and evaluation, it points out flaws and risks and tells why something might not work out

Green hat.

The color green is reminiscent of plants, growth, energy, life. Green hat is a mode of creativity, generating ideas, unconventional approaches and alternative points of view.

White hat.

The white color makes you think of paper. In this mode, we focus on the information that we have or that is necessary to make a decision: only facts and figures.

Blue hat.

Used at the beginning of discussions to pose a thinking problem and decide what we want to achieve as a result. This is a mode of observing and managing the thinking process itself (formulating goals, summing up results, etc.).

Additional Information:

Why hats? The hat is easy to put on and take off. This applies to our situation as well, since we should be able to change between different types of thinking as easily as we can change colored hats.
Up to 90% of errors in thinking (in non-technical fields) are errors of perception. Logical errors are very rare.
The Six Hats Method enriches our thinking and makes it more comprehensive. If we simply ask others to think about something, they often become confused. however, if they are invited to explore a subject using the six-hats framework, their breadth of perception quickly increases.

Hats and children, or the de Bono method in the school curriculum and at home

The six thinking hats method has been used in American and European schools since the first grades.
Children learn critical thinking very quickly. As a result, they easily solve problems of varying levels of complexity, are independent and self-confident. They are interested in the learning process itself, they know how to find answers, argue them, and support them with evidence and facts. Our schools have also begun to successfully use this technique in literature, English, and history lessons. Fairy tales are told on behalf of the six hats, which is interesting to use for learning vocabulary in Russian lessons. A fairy tale told by a yellow hat, in dry facts, using business language, will be radically different from the emotional, sensual tale of a red hat. The Yellow Fairy Tale is cheerful, imaginative, positive, filled with artistic comparisons. Black is a thriller fairy tale with scary details. A fairy tale told by a green hat will have an unexpected ending, or it can be told without words. The Blue Tale can be told in the form of a report. It is good to combine the six thinking hats method with mind maps. These are graphic diagrams, systematized thoughts, sorted into shelves and placed in visual aids, simple and understandable.

Adults, high school students, and very young students can learn to think using the “hat” method. At home, the six thinking hats method is successfully used by parents in solving all sorts of problems. To make the learning process clear and visual, you can make hats from colored paper. You can experiment by looking “under the hat” at everyday situations that are incomprehensible to the child, telling fairy tales, and helping the student cope with his homework.

People try on many roles throughout their lives. In one person both the inner child and the adult, parent, and partner coexist. So, the girl grows up and plays the roles of mother, wife, daughter, sister, friend, perhaps a business lady or an employee. The boy becomes a man, a husband, a father. These roles live in parallel and cannot always agree with each other. One part of us, one role, wants to spend more time with family, the other at work, the third does not have enough time for their hobbies and personal interests. They begin to conflict with each other, and we do not understand what is happening to us. And what to do with all this internal booth? This is where the six thinking hats method and the ability to structure our thoughts come to the rescue in order to allow our roles to speak out, come to a common decision and restore peace of mind.

Do you think it’s worth spending time learning the 6 hats method? Will it be applicable in your life? For myself, I concluded that I want to develop myself, playing with my children, and simplify their lives by teaching the six thinking hats method. So I go get scissors and colored paper to bring my idea to life. I’ll start with the yellow hat of enthusiasm and optimism and tell you in the words of Edward de Bono: “Try this method for yourself.”