Innovation
Edward de Bono’s six thinking hats
Brainstorming problems and generating new ideas.
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Edward de Bono’s six thinking hats vs Six thinking hats (De Bono)
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Organisational behaviour
Six thinking hats (De Bono)
Edward de Bono’s method for directing a group through six distinct modes of thinking instead of allowing people to defend fixed positions.
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Use this when.
Use it to structure brainstorming, problem solving and evaluation.
The hats are also useful when a group needs to practise complementing one another rather than competing for the strongest position. Observing how the team handles each mode can reveal gaps in what is communicated, how contributions are made and how well people cooperate.
Extracted signals
Strengths, limits, and pitfalls.
Edward de Bono’s six thinking hats
- Have the whole group use one mode at a time and make the blue hat facilitator responsible for the question, sequence and synthesis. This preserves parallel thinking and prevents stronger personalities from assigning caution or creativity to other people.
- Define one clear question, explain the hat meanings and appoint a facilitator—usually operating in blue hat mode. Select a sequence, set approximate time boxes and capture outputs under the correct mode. Do not let participants use a hat to attack one another.
- Motorola reportedly used the method during development of the Accompli mobile device. Consumer evidence received sustained white hat attention, green generated concepts, yellow and black evaluated them and red helped prioritise. The process supported a mobile office proposition suited to its time.
Watch for
- Do not treat yellow as optimism without evidence or black as permission to kill ideas. Every hat has a disciplined purpose, and the final decision must integrate information, value, risk, emotion and alternatives.
Six thinking hats (De Bono)
- State the question and the purpose of each hat before beginning, then ask everyone to contribute in that mode at the same time.
- Apply the model in a meeting, workshop or brainstorming session, or use it alone to structure personal reflection. In a group, participants normally wear the same conceptual hat at the same time. The facilitator selects a sequence that serves the decision rather than cycling mechanically.
- De Bono distinguishes these modes:
Watch for
- Do not assign colours as permanent personality labels. The value comes from every participant changing perspective, not from making one person “the critic” or “the creative.”
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