100 GREAT BUSINESS IDEAS • 171
and try to understand the responses of people who do not know
your reasoning.
- Black hat. Look at all the bad points of the issue, trying to see
why it might not work. This highlights the weak points in a plan,
allowing you to eliminate or alter them or to prepare contingency
plans for them. This helps to make plans more resilient. It is
one of the real benefi ts of this technique, as problems can be
anticipated and countered.
- Yellow hat. This requires thinking positively and optimistically,
helping you to see the benefi ts of the decision. It helps you to
keep going when everything looks diffi cult.
- Green hat. This involves developing creative solutions. It is a
freewheeling way of thinking, in which there is little criticism
of ideas.
- Blue hat. This emphasizes process control, and is exhibited by
people chairing meetings. When ideas are running dry, it can
be useful to use green-hat thinking, as the creative approach can
stimulate fresh ideas.
