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Wearing six hats

This classic De Bono approach is an excellent way of getting the

most out of creative teams and is a gentle play on the saying

“putting on your thinking cap.” It recognizes that there are many

different roles in the creative process and that it is sometimes help-

ful to be more explicit about this.

De Bono assumes that when a team is grappling with a prob-

lem, it may be helpful to be really clear about the different roles you

can play. So, he suggests that you wear six differently colored hats

and act according to the role that each one suggests.

White = You introduce neutral facts, figures and information.

Red = You put forward hunches, feeling and intuitions.

Black = You are logical and negative.

Yellow = You are logical and positive.

Green = You constantly come up with creative ideas for taking

things forward.

Blue = You act as the conductor of the orchestra, concentrating

on managing the process of coming up with ideas

successfully.

There are all sorts of ways in which this can be used, but the sim-

plest is just to play the roles that each hat suggests. You could add

other colors and other roles. This technique could be used in a

social setting or as a warm-up item to a more serious meeting.

Find a way of applying this approach in your own life. If you like the idea, you can read more

about this in De Bono’s classic book, Six Thinking Hats. Make sure you don’t always wear the

same hat!

Fuzzy thinking

At the start of this section I was speculating about what Archimedes

had been doing before he slipped gratefully into his warm bath. Did

170 Power Up Your Mind