Six Thinking Hats

Rating:
Summary: Somewhat useful, but mostly obvious, arbitrary and ...
Review: ...not terribly well written.

I think the method is overblown. It can be useful in a group setup since it delineates and formalizes the roles and different aspects of mental attack, so to say. However, all of them are rather obvious and you'd do precisely this thing on your own even if you didn't know about "the six thinking hats" trick or didn't think of the process this way. And why six? I think, one could express the same idea with ten (or three). It is somewhat arbitrary I think. Also, the transition, borders so to say, between different mental postures is blurred and, again, somewhat arbitrary, I think. Anyway, no harm in skimming this book when you got nothing else to do, just don't expect any breakthroughs coming out if it.

Rating:
Summary: Elementary
Review: Disappointed in this work of de Bono. It's very elementary and superficial. His book "Lateral Thinking" is a classic. This book is embarassing.

Rating:
Summary: You can keep your hat on (but try a different one sometimes)
Review: Edward de Bono does not suffer from a small ego. The first sentence of the preface to his book is: "The Six Thinking Hats method may well be the most important change in human thinking for the past twenty-three hundred years." Digest this and two more pages of obnoxious self-advertisement that follows. Then put the book down. After an hour continue to read the rest of the book. It is worth while.

Essentially, "Six Thinking Hats" is about improving communication and decision-making in groups. De Bono's style is accessible, succinct, well-structured and easy to follow. It is not with a certain justification that he claims that "his work is in use equally in board-rooms of some of the world's largest corporations and with four-year-olds in school." Well, where is the difference, anyway?

What de Bono wants to achieve is to structure thinking and make it more effective. "Thinking often proceeds as drift and waffle and reaction to what turns up from moment to moment. [...] Suggestions, judgements, criticism, information and plain emotions are all mixed together in a sort of thinking stew," he writes. The six "thinking hats" are different ways of looking at an issue that has to be decided: under the white hat one presents the facts, under the red hat one says how one feels about the issue, under the black hat one looks at the negative effects of the decision, under the yellow hat one looks at the positive effects of the decision, under the green hat one thinks of alternatives, and under the blue hat one clarifies which kind of thinking is going on. Overall, thinking becomes clearer when the different parts that go into it are brought into the open.

The idea of the "hat" has the advantage that it allows people to play with a new perspective. People who argue by criticism, for example, can remain mostly critical. But by putting on the red hat they can voice their emotions, or by putting on the yellow hat they can think about positive effects. Western thinking tends strongly to focus on "black hat thinking," says de Bono: "At a Western-style meeting the participants sit there with their points of view and in many cases the conclusion they wish to see agreed upon. The meeting then consists of arguing through these different points of view to see which survives the criticism and which attracts the most adherents." De Bono wants to get away from this judgmental, confrontational style towards a more open, positive, creative and playful way of discussing.

De Bono's model tries to make discussions more rational. It acknowledges the importance of emotions in decision-making, and tries to separate them from the facts and from the positive or negative implications of the decision: "once the emotions are made visible, then a thinker is more free of them". But making the discussion more transparent and structured is not enough. De Bono's model needs a "facilitator", a person who puts a "blue hat" on, someone who organizes the discussion and leads it.

In the world of business, discussions are very often about power. The "six thinking hats" model requires a very enlightened, open-minded "powerful" person to work, or very assertive, courageous "less powerful" persons.

What are the problems with power? A person in power can abuse his "blue hat" position, for example. Or the culture of the company can be built on "black hat" critical thinking, where "yellow hat" positive thinkers tend to become scapegoats when things go wrong. "Red hat" revelations of the emotions behind one's point of view or "green hat" creative ideas are not forthcoming when power games are being played. People in power can abuse any of the six thinking hats. Here the book could profit from some ideas about how to deal with the abuse of power in communication. But having said that, I want to stress that it was stimulating to read this book, and I found it very interesting to analyse my own thinking under the "hat" categories of de Bono.

Rating:
Summary: You can keep your hat on (but try a different one sometimes)
Review: Edward de Bono does not suffer from a small ego. The first sentence of the preface to his book is: "The Six Thinking Hats method may well be the most important change in human thinking for the past twenty-three hundred years." Digest this and two more pages of obnoxious self-advertisement that follows. Then put the book down. After an hour continue to read the rest of the book. It is worth while.

Essentially, "Six Thinking Hats" is about improving communication and decision-making in groups. De Bono's style is accessible, succinct, well-structured and easy to follow. It is not with a certain justification that he claims that "his work is in use equally in board-rooms of some of the world's largest corporations and with four-year-olds in school." Well, where is the difference, anyway?

What de Bono wants to achieve is to structure thinking and make it more effective. "Thinking often proceeds as drift and waffle and reaction to what turns up from moment to moment. [...] Suggestions, judgements, criticism, information and plain emotions are all mixed together in a sort of thinking stew," he writes. The six "thinking hats" are different ways of looking at an issue that has to be decided: under the white hat one presents the facts, under the red hat one says how one feels about the issue, under the black hat one looks at the negative effects of the decision, under the yellow hat one looks at the positive effects of the decision, under the green hat one thinks of alternatives, and under the blue hat one clarifies which kind of thinking is going on. Overall, thinking becomes clearer when the different parts that go into it are brought into the open.

The idea of the "hat" has the advantage that it allows people to play with a new perspective. People who argue by criticism, for example, can remain mostly critical. But by putting on the red hat they can voice their emotions, or by putting on the yellow hat they can think about positive effects. Western thinking tends strongly to focus on "black hat thinking," says de Bono: "At a Western-style meeting the participants sit there with their points of view and in many cases the conclusion they wish to see agreed upon. The meeting then consists of arguing through these different points of view to see which survives the criticism and which attracts the most adherents." De Bono wants to get away from this judgmental, confrontational style towards a more open, positive, creative and playful way of discussing.

De Bono's model tries to make discussions more rational. It acknowledges the importance of emotions in decision-making, and tries to separate them from the facts and from the positive or negative implications of the decision: "once the emotions are made visible, then a thinker is more free of them". But making the discussion more transparent and structured is not enough. De Bono's model needs a "facilitator", a person who puts a "blue hat" on, someone who organizes the discussion and leads it.

In the world of business, discussions are very often about power. The "six thinking hats" model requires a very enlightened, open-minded "powerful" person to work, or very assertive, courageous "less powerful" persons.

What are the problems with power? A person in power can abuse his "blue hat" position, for example. Or the culture of the company can be built on "black hat" critical thinking, where "yellow hat" positive thinkers tend to become scapegoats when things go wrong. "Red hat" revelations of the emotions behind one's point of view or "green hat" creative ideas are not forthcoming when power games are being played. People in power can abuse any of the six thinking hats. Here the book could profit from some ideas about how to deal with the abuse of power in communication. But having said that, I want to stress that it was stimulating to read this book, and I found it very interesting to analyse my own thinking under the "hat" categories of de Bono.

Rating:
Summary: Highly Recommended!
Review: Edward de Bono's "hats" method has been practiced by people in a variety of organizations, from executives in multinational corporations to children in elementary schools. It provides a convenient, easy way to cut through confusion and make decisions based on clear thinking. The hats are useful visualization tools to help sidestep the ego and provide a nonjudgmental path to decision making. Each chapter provides a clear descriptions of a different color hat. The book offers plenty of quotes to suggest how to use the hats in conversation. We [...] recommend this book as particularly helpful for managers, teachers, group leaders or anyone involved in group decision making.

Rating:
Summary: Brilliant Research
Review: Edward De Bono's book is an invaluable, practical guide to increasing mental agility. His research is detailed and the results appear as clear, unadorned prose. Each chapter is a cogent unity in itself, yet each builds upon the other to create a synaptic skyscraper. De Bono certainly knows his subject, as the final sentence of his 'Preface' demonstrates: 'Wear your 6 Hats of Intelligence as often as you can, providing it's not windy and preferably not at the same time because you'll look ridiculous. And above all, have them blocked regularly.' With De Bono leading humankind into The Forest of Fulfilment, the rest of us had better carry a Compass of Concern and a carton of bread crumbs.

Rating:
Summary: 6 categories of thinking defined under "colored hat" images
Review: Excellent, unique presentation of the thought process. If everyone in the organization adopts the visually stimulating idioms suggested for each category of thought presented-- colored thinking hats, the group creative thought process can be managed much better and individuals guided into thought playing roles, without risk to their egos!

This book appears to be unfinished in the sense that the style is one of presenting a series of terse statement paragraphs with a liberal sprinkling of example paragraphs. A smooth transition between paragraphs is often missing--the book almost appears to be an organized presentation of the author's brainstorming sessions!

I personally found the book refreshing, thought provoking and timeless ( in the sense that anyone interested in managing creative thought will always be able to use the techniques presented).

Rating:
Summary: Excellent tools for structuring creative thinking
Review: For problem-solving requiring creativity, this is an excellent approach. I am currently using the CoRT package for teaching thinking, and while it is simplistic (after all, thinking is straightforward for most of us, owing to long practice), it is effective.

The purpose of the hats and colors, as well as the apparent simplicity, is to guide the mind along the appropriate paths. Read De Bono's "Mechanism of Mind" for a detailed explanation of what is going on.

This book goes beyond CoRT, in that it provides a more flexible approach than TEC-PISCO, but CoRT does provide the creativity tools for actual work under the green hat. CoRT also has specific tools for under the other hats, too, but is a lengthier process. CoRT is nearly 30 years old now, and has influenced a lot of later writers and their methods.

There are other approaches to this. But you don't need brainstorming and all that stuff, to do creative problem-solving. You can work through things by being in calm control of your mind, and by yourself (rather than in a brainstorming group). The techniques work if you use them: if you don't actually use them, don't expect a benefit.

Compact, terse and readable. Also, very implementable, with good results if you get into it. If you treat it like you already know all about it, you will not see any benefit.

Rating:
Summary: "Six Thinking Hats" compared to Futurlogics
Review: Futurlogics was published 1983 and "Six Thinking Hats" was published 1985. The US author has six modes of thinking and used the color coding concept using the prizm, rainbow, and the kaleidoscope. Although Doctor de Bono alludes to the future he does not see the import it has to the thinking process. The six hats are compared in FUTURLOGICS as follows: White Hat is similar to the Natural Future or mode, Red Hat is similar to the Artificial Future or mode, Black Hat is similar to the Absolute Future or mode, Yellow Hat is similar to the Imaginary Future or mode, The Green Hat is similar to the Synthetic Future or the Creative Mode, The Blue Hat is similar to the Paridigm Future or model mode. Six Hats is great start into the thinking methods but does not reach out like Futurlogics.

Rating:
Summary: Just one perspective
Review: Good thinking is simple. The goal of effective thinking is to make complexity managable. The Six Thinking Hats Method is by design a KISS system that is not intended to emphasize how clever any individuals in a group are, but to make actionable decisions--in most cases to achieve business results (as de Bono wryly notes elsewhere, most academics aren't interested in effective thinking).

The reason I'm writing this review is to correct an inaccuracy in the previous review. Having each person in a group adopt a different hat is exactly the OPPOSITE of what is intended with the Parallel Thinking method (a virtual synonym for the Six Hat method). The idea is that everyone in a group focusses on a specific element (Hat) at the same time, not individually. Doing it this way reduces argument and the role of ego in the conversation.

As de Bono notes, an important element in his work is also to demystify creativity, and help people understand you don't need lava lamps and candles to "do" creativity effectively. You don't have to be goofy. Ordinary business people working on engines and vaccines--and, as far as that goes, Accounts Payable, Sales, and Project Management--need creativity to be effective and competitive in a 24 hour global marketplace.

I teach this course. ....