Six Thinking Hats by Edward de Bono: Book Summary

Six Thinking Hats by Edward de Bono: 

Book Summary

Want to run better meetings and make faster decisions? Use the Six Thinking Hats method described by Edward de Bono in his iconic book that encourages critical thinking.

Chapter one

The Six Hats method will allow your brain to maximize its sensitivity in different directions at different times.

    A major part of the existence of humans is hinged on their thoughts. Some people have learned how to think in ways that are beneficial to them, but this does not mean that everyone shouldn’t find a way to be better. Once a person stops working on themselves, they stop growing. The major challenge to effective thinking is confusion. 

We tend to think of many things at once and end up making mistakes in many areas. We want to be emotional, factual, creative, and logical all at the same time. This is a recipe for disaster. The Six Thinking Hats method is designed to allow a person to focus on one thing at a time. The Six Thinking Hats method allows people to switch between different types of thinking in order to arrive at the best conclusion. 

It is particularly useful for teams and making difficult decisions. It is impossible for the brain to maximize its sensitivity to different directions at the same time, but the Six Hats method allows this. Western thinking is full of analysis, facts, and arguments. But there is another type of thinking that focuses on what is possible. Based on our experiences, we try to categorize things into boxes, but this can only work in a stable world. In this ever-changing world of ours, we need to be able to consider different factors before judging anything or assigning something to a box. In traditional thinking, both parties argue based on their different perspectives. But in parallel thinking, both views — no matter how different — are viewed in parallel. If a choice has to be made, one can be chosen. If it is impossible to make a choice, both parallels are used to make a design.

Each of the six thinking hats has a color: white, red, black, yellow, green, and blue. The color provides the name for the hat and it is also related to its function. 

• White Hat: white is objective and neutral. The white hat is concerned with objective figures and facts. 

• Red Hat: red suggests anger, rage, and emotions. The red hat gives an emotional view. 

• Black Hat: black is somber and serious. The black hat is cautious and careful. Black hat points out the weaknesses in an idea. 

• Yellow Hat: This hat is positive and sunny. It is optimistic. 

• Green Hat: green is like grass, vegetation, and abundant, fertile growth. This hat indicates creativity and new ideas. 

• Blue Hat: blue is a cool color, it is also the color of the sky, which is above all things. The blue hat is concerned with control, the organization of the thinking process, and the use of the other hats. At different points, people are looking in a direction that can be changed. The Six Hats act as a guide to making choices and help people focus on one thing at a time. Keep reading to know what the Six Hats are and how you can use them.

Chapter two

The white hat energy is directed at seeking and laying out information.

With the white hat, everyone focuses on how much information is available, how much information is needed, and the necessary questions to be asked. The white hat is about information. This information can be in the form of hard facts and figures that can be checked to soft information like opinions and feelings. If you express your own feelings, that is a red hat, but if you report on someone else expressing a feeling, that is a white hat. These facts and figures can never be treated objectively when put forward as part of an argument. 

So, we often need a switch that says “Just the facts please — without the argument.” Unfortunately, Western thinking, with its argument habits, prefers to give a conclusion first and then bring in facts to support that conclusion. In contrast, in the map-making type of thinking (that means having the facts and figures first), we have to make the map first and then choose the route. That means that we have to have the facts and figures first. So white hat thinking is a convenient way of asking for the facts and figures to be put forward in a neutral and objective manner.

Chapter three

The red hat presents opportunities to express feelings, emotions, and intuition without the need to explain or justify them.

In business dealings, emotions are supposed to be kept at bay. Somehow, they find a way to creep in and are then disguised as logic. The red hat provides a distinctive opportunity for feelings to be expressed differently from facts. Red hat thinking is focused on emotions and feelings and the non-objective aspects of thinking. The red hat provides a formal and defined channel for bringing these things out into the open — as a legitimate part of the overall map — instead of mixing them up with facts.” Emotions, feelings, hunches, and intuitions are strong and real. The red hat acknowledges this. The Red hat thinking is the exact opposite of white hat thinking, which is neutral, objective, and free of emotional flavor. 

Chapter four

More often than not, people use the black hat the most.

The black hat is perhaps the most important hat. It is a hat of caution and stops us from doing dangerous things. The black hat is the basis of Western civilization because it is the basis of critical thinking. The basis of traditional argument has been to point out how something is contradictory or inconsistent. The black hat points out how something does not fit our resources, our policy, our strategy, our ethics, our values, and so forth. Black hat thinking is always logical. There must always be a logical basis for the criticism. If the comment is purely emotional, then it comes under the red hat, not the black hat. Black hat thinking is not balanced. Under the black hat, the brain is sensitized to seek out possible dangers, problems, and obstacles. The focus is on why something may not work or may not be the right thing to do. The other side is presented under the yellow hat.

Chapter five

The yellow hat seeks to find the benefits hidden in a suggestion.

The yellow hat always looks for the good in a situation. It is a more difficult hat to wear than the black hat. This is because the brain is wired to help us stay out of danger, but there is no natural mechanism for the yellow hat. To be able to use the yellow hat more often, we need “value sensitivity.” That involves being as sensitive to value as we already are sensitive to danger.

Sometimes, the yellow hat brings many surprises. For instance, the most shot down idea can have positive sides. The yellow hat should be based on logic and facts. There should be some reason given for any value put forward. The yellow hat is a judgment hat and is not based on fantasy. Being positive is a choice that everyone makes. We can choose to focus on those aspects of a situation that are positive. We can search for benefits. Negative thinking may protect us from mistakes, risk-taking, and danger. 

Positive thinking has to be a mixture of curiosity, pleasure, greed, and the desire to “make things happen.’” It could be argued that man’s progress depends on this desire to see things happen. The yellow hat is termed “speculative-positive” because, with any plan or action, we are looking forward to the future. The future is where the action or plan is going to be worked out. Nobody knows the future, so we have to speculate as to what might happen. We do things because we believe they are worth doing. It is the things we ascribe value that make up the “positive” aspects of speculative-positive. 

It is difficult for some people to stay positive while others find it quite easy. On the other hand, most people remain positive when they are putting out their own ideas and suddenly become positive when someone else’s idea is beneficial to them. Even though yellow hat thinking is positive, it needs just as much discipline as the white hat or the black hat. It isn’t just about seeing the positive side of everything; it involves an intentional search for positive things around us.

Chapter six

Under the green hat, you are permitted to put forward possibilities, which play a big role in thinking.

Creativity is no longer just the business of the “idea person” while everyone else sits around waiting to pounce on an idea. When the green hat is in use, everyone is expected to make a creative effort — or else keep quiet. People do not like keeping quiet, so they make a creative effort. The deliberate allocation of time to creative effort is very important. It acknowledges that creativity is a key ingredient in thinking. 

Under the green hat, you are permitted to put forward possibilities. Possibilities have a greater role to play in inspiring creativity than people believe/know. Without possibilities, you cannot make progress. Those who believe that progress arises from the analysis of information and steps of logical deduction are totally wrong. Without the framework of possibilities, we cannot even see the information in new ways. During green hat thinking, suggested courses of action are put forward: “We could do this, or this, or this.” It is also used to overcome some of the difficulties put forward under the black hat. The green hat may suggest modifications to an idea to avoid the difficulties. The green hat may suggest the need for an additional idea. The green hat includes both “the top of the head” creativity and “deliberate” creativity.

 

Chapter seven

The blue hat is responsible for thinking about your thoughts.

The blue hat focuses on doing what should be done when it should be done. It has to do with management and organization of thinking. It is under the initial blue hat that the agenda or sequence of use of the other hats is laid out. The blue hat may also specify other thinking processes — even if the hats are not to be used. The blue hat sets the thinking “strategy.” During the session, it keeps the discipline and ensures that people keep to the relevant hat. It also announces a change of hats.

Typically, the blue hat is worn by the facilitator, chairperson, or leader of the session. This is a permanent role. In addition, during a specific blue hat session, anyone can make procedural suggestions. Blue hat thinking sets the focus. It defines the problems and shapes the questions. It also determines the thinking tasks that are to be carried through. Blue hat thinking is responsible for all thought summaries, overviews, and conclusions. 

These can take place at any point during a person’s thought process. Blue hat thinking monitors the thinking and ensures that the rules of the game are observed. It stops the argument and insists on the map type of thinking. It also enforces discipline. Blue hat thinking may be used for occasional interjections that require a hat. It may also be used to set up a step-by-step sequence of thinking operations, which are to be followed just as a dance follows the choreography. Anyone can offer blue hat suggestions even when the specific blue hat thinking role is assigned to one person.

Conclusion

The number one hindrance to thinking is complexity. When complex thoughts begin, it becomes increasingly difficult to understand concepts. The Six Hats method enables a thinker to focus on one thing at a time, thereby opening the mind to more possibilities. Instead of trying to solve everything at once, the thinker figures things out sequentially. 

The Six Hats method also allows a person to switch from one mode of thinking to another. For instance, if a person has been focused on facts without any form of emotions, the person can be asked to take off their white hat and use their red one. This signals to them that they need to take some steps back and consider another perspective. It might be chaotic to always try to sample every hat when you want to think about something. You can just stick to one hat and switch when you need to sample other points of view. Try this Teach your team members at work how to use the six hats. This way, you can always switch hats during heated meetings. Also, list the positive aspects to a decision you’ve dreaded making for a long time. You might just find something worthwhile.