Six Thinking Hats Activity

Lateral Thinking

Thinking that is Outside the Box!

Can You Solve this Puzzle?

Can You Solve this Puzzle?

Can You Solve this Puzzle?

Lateral Thinking• Lateral thinking is a term coined by

Edward de Bono, a Maltese psychologist, physician, and writer

• de Bono defines Lateral Thinking as methods of thinking concerned with changing concepts and perception.

Lateral Thinking Example

It took two hours for two men to dig a hole five feet deep. How deep would it have been if ten men had dug the hole

for two hours?

The answer appears to be 25 feet deep

But did you consider…?

• A hole may need to be of a certain size or shape so digging might stop early at a required depth.

• The deeper a hole is, the more effort is required

to dig it, since waste soil needs to be lifted higher to the ground level. There is a limit to how deep a hole can be dug by manpower without use of ladders or hoists for soil removal, and 25 feet is beyond this limit.

But did you consider…?

• Deeper soil layers may be harder to dig out, or we may hit bedrock or the water table.

• Are we digging in soil? Clay? Sand? Each presents its own special considerations.

• Digging in a forest becomes much easier once we have cut through the first several feet of roots.

• Each man digging needs space to use a shovel.

But did you consider…?

• It is possible that with more people working on a project, each person may become less efficient due to increased opportunity for distraction, the assumption he can slack off, more people to talk to, etc.

• More men could work in shifts to dig faster for longer.

• There are more men but are there more shovels?

But did you consider…?

• The two hours dug by ten men may be under different weather conditions than the two hours dug by two men.

• Rain could flood the hole to prevent digging. • Temperature conditions may freeze the men

before they finish.

• Would we rather have 5 holes each 5 feet deep?

But did you consider…?

• The two men may be an engineering crew with digging machinery.

• What if one man in each group is a manager

who will not actually dig? • The extra eight men might not be strong

enough to dig, or much stronger than the first two.

What is Lateral Thinking?

• Lateral thinking is about reasoning that is not immediately obvious

• Ideas may not be obtainable by using only traditional step-by-step logic.

• Techniques that apply lateral thinking to problems are characterized by the shifting of thinking patterns away from entrenched or predictable thinking to new or unexpected ideas.

What is Lateral Thinking?

• A new idea that is the result of lateral thinking is not always a helpful one

• When a good idea is discovered in this way it is usually obvious in hindsight

CONFUSION is the biggest enemy of good thinking

We try to do too many things at the same time.

We look for INFORMATION

We are affected by FEELINGS

We seek new IDEAS and OPTIONS

We have to be CAUTIOUS

We want to find BENFITS

Tossing too many balls at a time

Six Thinking Hats Looking at a Decision From All Points of View

'Six Thinking Hats' is an important and powerful technique. It is used to look at decisions from a number of important perspectives.

This forces you to move outside your habitual thinking style, and helps you to get a more rounded view of a situation.

Six Thinking Hats Looking at a Decision From All Points of View

This tool was created by Edward de Bono.

Many successful people think from a very rational, positive viewpoint. This is part of the reason that they are successful. Often, though, they may fail to look at a problem from an emotional, intuitive, creative or negative viewpoint.

This can mean that they underestimate resistance to plans, fail to make creative leaps and do not make essential contingency plans.

Six Thinking Hats Looking at a Decision From All Points of View

Similarly, pessimists may be excessively defensive. Emotional people may fail to look at decisions calmly and rationally.

If you look at a problem with the 'Six Thinking Hats' technique, then you will solve it using all approaches. Your decisions and plans will mix ambition, skill in execution, public sensitivity, creativity and good contingency planning

Each 'Thinking Hat' is a different style of thinking

These are explained in the following slides -

White Hat

With this thinking hat you focus on the data available. Look at the information you have, and see what you can learn from it. Look for gaps in your knowledge, and either try to fill them or take account of them.

This is where you analyze past trends, and try to extrapolate from historical data.

Red Hat

'Wearing' the red hat, you look at problems using intuition, gut reaction, and emotion. Also try to think how other people will react emotionally. Try to understand the responses of people who do not fully know your reasoning

Black Hat

Using black hat thinking, look at all the bad points of the decision. Look at it cautiously and defensively. Try to see why it might not work. This is important because it highlights the weak points in a plan. It allows you to eliminate them, alter them, or prepare contingency plans to counter them.

Black Hat thinking helps to make your plans 'tougher' and more resilient. It can also help you to spot fatal flaws and risks before you embark on a course of action. Black Hat thinking is one of the real benefits of this technique - many successful people get so used to thinking positively that often they cannot see problems in advance. This leaves them under-prepared for difficulties

Yellow Hat

The yellow hat helps you to think positively. It is the optimistic viewpoint that helps you to see all the benefits of the decision and the value in it. Yellow Hat thinking helps you to keep going when everything looks gloomy and difficult

Green Hat

The Green Hat stands for creativity. This is where you can develop creative solutions to a problem. It is a freewheeling way of thinking, in which there is little criticism of ideas.

Blue Hat

'Blue Hat Thinking' stands for process control. This is the hat worn by people chairing meetings. When running into difficulties because ideas are running dry, they may direct activity into Green Hat thinking. When contingency plans are needed, they will ask for Black Hat thinking, etc..

ACTIVITY

Group Discussion and Decision Making using 6 Thinking Hats

ACTIVITY FLOW

• All of you are divided into groups of 6

• Groups have to think according to the color of the Hat allotted to them

• We will discuss various decision making issues, and try to reach a probable solution with optimal suitability.

Tossing one ball at a time is much easier

• Improve the quality of decision-making

• Allow a thinker to deal with one thing at a time

• Allow switch in thinking

• Emphasis on “what can be” rather than just on “what is”

– not on who is right and who is wrong

Do one thing at a time and in the end the full picture emerges

White Hat:• Focus on the data available. • Look at the information available and see what can be

learnt from it. • Look for gaps in knowledge, and either try to fill

them or take account of them.• Analyze past trends, and try to extrapolate from

historical data.

“In God we trust . . . everyone else must bring data”

Red Hat• Exactly the opposite of White Hat which is

neutral, objective and free of emotions

• About emotions and feelings- the non rational aspect of thinking

- Opportunity to express feelings, emotions and intuition without any need to explain or to justify them.

- Hunches bring about the best decision (BLINK)

Black Hat• Look at things pessimistically, cautiously and defensively

• See why ideas and approaches might not work

– Highlights the weak points in a plan or course of action.

– Allows to eliminate them, alter the approach

– Prepare contingency plans to counter problems that arise.

• Makes plans tougher and more resilient

• Helps spot fatal flaws and risks

Reality Check: What Black Hat is not: Negativity

Acts as the Devils Advocate

Yellow Hat

• Helps you to think positively

• It is the optimistic viewpoint– helps see all the benefits of the decision and the

value in it

– spot the opportunities that arise from it.

• Yellow Hat thinking helps you to keep going when everything looks gloomy and difficult.

There is always a bright side

Green Hat

• The creative hat• Put forth new ideas, options and alternatives• Develop creative solutions to a problem• A freewheeling way of thinking, in which there

is little criticism of ideas• A specific time is set out for everyone to make

a creative effort

Think Out of the Box

Blue Hat

• Worn by people chairing meetings

• Blue hat wearer is like the conductor of an orchestra

• Sets the focus, defines the problems, shapes the questions, determines the thinking tasks

• Ensures the “rules of the game” are observed

Focus on the big picture

The blue hat role

• Control of thinking & the process• Begin & end session with blue hat• Facilitator, session leader’s role• Choreography

– open, sequence, close– Focus: what should we be thinking about– Asking the right questions– Defining & clarifying the problem– Setting the thinking tasks

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

…and close with the blue hat

• What we have achieved

• Outcome

• Conclusion

• Design

• Solution

• Next steps

GROUP SCORESDecision For: White Red Yellow Black Green

CBS should not have an Evaluation System in Practice

5+5 5+3 5+3 5+4 5+5

Only online shopping should be allowed to the students

Students should be responsible for functioning of the Mess at CBS

CBS should give all gazette holidays to the students and Staff

2+1 2-1+4 4+3 4+3-1 3+5

Classes at CBS should be held at evening instead of morning

5 -1+3 -1+3 5 2

TOTAL

Careers should be assigned at the time of birth itself.

Application of 6 Thinking Hatsand your learning from today's

session…

Advantages of adopting Six Hats method thinking

– Focused Thinking– Emphasis on parallel thinking– Symbolic role– Transformer of personality– Removes ego– Saves time– Empowers organization

Benefits• A good technique for looking at the effects of a decision

from a number of different points of view.

• It allows necessary emotion and skepticism to be brought into what would otherwise be purely rational decisions.

• Opens up the opportunity for creativity within Decision Making.

• Helps persistently pessimistic people to be positive and creative.

• Plans developed using the '6 Thinking Hats' technique are sounder and more resilient than would otherwise be

Outcome of Six Thinking Hats• Shorter, more productive meetings.

• A new approach to problem solving and decision making.

• Reduced conflict.

• Improved results.

• Higher quality and quantity of ideas.

Conclusion• A practical way to teach thinking as a skill • The colors and hats provide a useful visual image that is

easy to learn and remember.• Can be used with six-year-olds up to senior • Provides a framework for organizing thinking

– No longer a matter of drift and argument

– Thinking is more focused, more constructive and productive.

• The game and role-playing nature of the hats allows for the detachment of ego from the thinking“This is not me, but my red hat thinking.” 

Thank You

It is

fun and effective to wear everyday everywhere