keymodels
Six thinking hats (De Bono)
How can six thinking hats (de bono) support strategic choice or positioning?
Contents
Edward de Bono’s method for directing a group through six distinct modes of thinking instead of allowing people to defend fixed positions.
Edward de Bono introduced the six thinking hats in his 1985 book of the same name. Each colour represents a particular mode of contribution. Rather than assigning people permanent roles, participants deliberately adopt a shared perspective for part of the discussion. De Bono (1985) argued that habitual patterns narrow cognition; naming and switching among different modes can make thinking more productive and collaborative. A person who normally concentrates on facts through the white hat, for example, can be invited to generate possibilities through the green hat. Changing the hat changes the requested contribution, helping a team work together with greater range and discipline.
When to use it
Use the method when a decision needs to be examined from several perspectives, when habitual positions are limiting a conversation or when a group is arguing rather than thinking together. The sequence can expose overlooked opportunities, add nuance to initial reactions, encourage lateral thought and accelerate a decision by giving each stage a clear purpose.
| Hat | Focus | Typical questions |
|---|---|---|
| White | Information and facts Lacking information Different kinds of information | What information would we like? What information do we need? What information is available? What information is lacking, and how do we get it? |
| Red | Feelings Intuition | What feelings do we have? Are we committed to the subject? What does our intuition say? |
| Black | Downsides Why it will not work Pitfalls | What are the risks? What are the difficulties? What are potential problems? Does the idea suit the way we work? |
| Yellow | Advantages Optimism Why it would work Finding opportunities | What are the advantages? What are the good aspects? How would it be feasible? What are the potential opportunities? |
| Green | Possibilities Growth New ideas Creative thinking | What other possibilities are there? Can we challenge the existing situation? |
| Blue | Management of communication Summary and conclusions | What are the focal points? Can we summarise? What conclusions can we draw? How do we proceed? |
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.
Origins
Edward de Bono developed Six Thinking Hats as part of his wider work on lateral and parallel thinking. He set out the colour-coded method in his 1985 book Six Thinking Hats. Rather than asking participants to defend competing personal positions, the method invites everyone to use the same mode of thinking at the same time and then change modes together. This procedural separation of viewpoints helped the approach spread through education, facilitation and organisational decision-making.
What it is
Six Thinking Hats separates modes of thought so that a group can apply them in parallel. White gathers information, red makes room for feeling and intuition, black tests danger and weakness, yellow searches for value and feasibility, green creates alternatives, and blue directs the thinking process. When everyone uses the same mode together, the conversation is less likely to become a clash of personal positions and can move deliberately among evidence, emotion, caution, optimism and invention.
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