Creative Problem Solving with Six Thinking Hats

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Creative Problem Solving withSix Thinking Hats

• How to use Edward deBonosparallel thinking in
  problem solving

Gary Dichtenberg CyberSkills, Inc.
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Goals of this program

• Define parallel thinking
• Identify each of the six hats
• Learn how to ask a good question
• Apply six hats method to problem solving

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What is parallel thinking?

• At any moment everyone is looking in the same
  direction.

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So the six hats are?

• Six colors of hats for six types of thinking
• Each hat identifies a type of thinking
• Hats are directions of thinking
• Hats help a group use parallel thinking
• You can put on and take off a hat

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Uses for Six Hats

• Problem solving
• Strategic planning
• Running meetings
• Much more

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Six colors

• White neutral, objective
• Red emotional, angry
• Black serious, somber
• Yellow sunny, positive
• Green growth, fertility
• Blue cool, sky above

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and six hats

• White objective facts figures
• Red emotions feelings
• Black cautious careful
• Yellow hope, positive speculative
• Green creativity, ideas lateral thinking
• Blue control organization of thinking

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General hat issues

• Direction, not description
• Set out to think in a certain direction
• Lets have some black hat thinking
• Not categories of people
• Not Hes a black hat thinker.
• Everyone can and should use all the hats
• A constructive form of showing off
• Show off by being a better thinker
• Not destructive right vs. wrong argument
• Use in whole or in part

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Benefits of Six Thinking Hats

• Provides a common language
• Experience intelligence of each person
  (Diversity of thought)
• Use more of our brains
• Helps people work against type, preference
• Removal of ego (reduce confrontation)
• Save time
• Focus (one thing at a time)
• Create, evaluate implement action plans

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Using the hats

• Use any hat, as often as needed
• Sequence can be preset or evolving
• Not necessary to use every hat
• Time under each hat generally, short
• Requires discipline from each person
• While using it, stay in the idiom
• Adds an element of play, play along
• Can be used by individuals and groups

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The blue hat

• Thinking about thinking
• Instructions for thinking
• The organization of thinking
• Control of the other hats
• Discipline and focus

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The blue hat role

• Control of thinking the process
• Begin end session with blue hat
• Facilitator, session leaders role
• Choreography
• open, sequence, close
• Focus what should we be thinking about
• Asking the right questions
• Defining clarifying the problem
• Setting the thinking tasks

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Open with the blue hat

• Why we are here
• what we are thinking about
• definition of the situation or problem
• alternative definitions
• what we want to achieve
• where we want to end up
• the background to the thinking
• a plan for the sequence of hats

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and close with the blue hat

• What we have achieved
• Outcome
• Conclusion
• Design
• Solution
• Next steps

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White Hat Thinking

• Neutral, objective information
• Facts figures
• Questions what do we know, what dont we know,
  what do we need to know
• Excludes opinions, hunches, judgements
• Removes feelings impressions
• Two tiers of facts
• Believed Facts
• Checked Facts

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Red Hat Thinking

• Emotions feelings
• Hunches, intuitions, impressions
• Doesnt have to be logical or consistent
• No justifications, reasons or basis
• All decisions are emotional in the end

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Yellow Hat Thinking

• Positive speculative
• Positive thinking, optimism, opportunity
• Benefits
• Best-case scenarios
• Exploration

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Green Hat Thinking

• New ideas, concepts, perceptions
• Deliberate creation of new ideas
• Alternatives and more alternatives
• New approaches to problems
• Creative lateral thinking

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Black Hat Thinking

• Cautious and careful
• Logical negative why it wont work
• Critical judgement, pessimistic view
• Separates logical negative from emotional
• Focus on errors, evidence, conclusions
• Logical truthful, but not necessarily fair

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Six hats summary
Blue control organization of thinking White
objective facts figures Red emotions
feelings Yellow hope, positive
speculative Green creativity, ideas lateral
thinking Black cautious careful
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Asking the right question

• We cant get the right answer if we ask the
  wrong question
• Crucial blue hat skill
• One technique five whys

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Creative Problem Solving
Paul Reali CyberSkills, Inc.
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Traditional CPS

• Mess-finding
• Data-finding
• Problem-finding
• Idea-finding
• Solution-finding
• Acceptance-finding

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Common idea-finding methods

• Brainstorming
• Mind Maps
• Free association
• Freewriting
• Incubation

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Six hats problem solving

• A more deliberate process than CPS
• Like CPS, uses creativity (green hat)
• Unlike CPS, provides a mechanism for evaluating
  ideas making decisions

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Hypothetical problem solving program using the
hats - 1

• Blue hat
• Organize the process
• Red hat
• Emotional issues feelings
• White hat
• What do we know, need to know
• Yellow hat
• Proposals suggestions what ifs, why nots

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Hypothetical problem solving program using the
hats - 2

• Blue hat
• Focus on the areas that need new ideas
• Green hat
• Generate new ideas concepts
• Blue hat
• Organize ideas process for evaluation
• White, yellow green hats
• Constructive thinking

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Hypothetical problem solving program using the
hats - 3

• Yellow hat
• Positive assessment of viable alternatives
• Black hat
• Screening for impossible, unusable
• Challenge the alternatives
• Yellow green hats
• Overcome objections, correct faults, remove
  weaknesses, solve problems
• Black hat
• Further scrutiny point out risks, dangers

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Hypothetical problem solving program using the
hats - 4

• Blue hat
• Overview of achievements so far
• Organize choice of route
• Red hat
• Express feelings about the choices
• Yellow black hats
• Looking for the best alternative
• Blue hat
• Strategy for implementation

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Want to learn more?

• Workshops by Paul Reali
• CyberSkills, Inc.
• 336.774.1411
• www.cyberskills.com or www.omniskills.com
• preali_at_cyberskills.com
• Lateral Thinking, deBonos Thinking Course, and
  other books by Edward deBono