Use a different 'hat' to generate different perspectives and ideas about an issue or situation. Six Thinking Hats can help you to look at problems from different perspectives, but one at a time, to avoid confusion from too many angles crowding your thinking.3
Using actual hats as part of the process reinforces the concept and makes it fun.
- White Hat - neutral, objective (facts, figures)
- Red Hat - emotional view (how I feel)
- Green Hat - creative thinking (new ideas and growth)
- Black Hat - negative, pessimistic (devil's advocate)
- Yellow Hat - positive, hope (sunshine)
- Blue Hat - control, organizer, conductor (organizes the thinking, sets focus)
3 De Bono, Edward. Six Thinking Hats. Penguin books, 1985.