Blog

We are currently updating Six Thinking Hats. We thank you for your patience.

Six Thinking Hats

Module 1:   The White Hat

Module 2:  The Red Hat

Module 3:  The Black Hat

Module 4:  The Yellow Hat

Module 5:  The Green Hat

Module 6:  The Blue Hat 

Benefits of the Six Hats Method

In practice, one of the most striking things about the use of the  Six Hats method is that decisions seem to make themselves. When you come to the final Blue Hat, the decision is often obvious to everyone present. This seems hard to believe in theory, but happens very often in practice.

To those who have never tried the method it may seem that the hats help you to explore a subject fully and that a specific decision or design stage should follow. This view misses the point that certain hats- the red, yellow and black- are used for assessment, not just information.

If you have to drive to a certain destination and the people involved know the roads only vaguely, there will be a lot of argument about which road to take. If, however there is a road map laying out the roads, the traffic densities, and the nature of the road surface, then it is an easy method. To choose the best road. the choice has become obvious to all. Exactly the same thing happens with the Six Hats method.

If it is not possible to make a decision, then the final blue hat should lay out why it is not possible. There may be a need for information at a certain point. There may be different values that cannot be reconciled. So the final blue hat can define a new thinking focus. That new focus can then become the task of a new thinking session.

Not Surprising

It is not really surprising that with the Six Hats method the decision seems to make itself. After all, when we make decisions on our own, we go through more or less the same process (pros, cons, feelings, facts). The Six Hats method does all that very thoroughly. So what was carried out in an individual's mind is now done systematically and in the open.

Just as in other decision-making process, the final decision may be difficult or even impossible to make. It may require balancing two conflicting values. It may depend on speculation about the future-and there is no way of removing the uncertainty about the future. At this point, there is a need to design a way forward that may cover both choices. If that is not possible and a decision still has to be made, then a red hat decision is made.

In the end, all decisions are really 'Red Hat'. We lay out the factors but the final decision is always emotional.