Better Thinking

Six Thinking Hats

Six Thinking Hats, by Edward de Bono, is a parallel thinking tool that separates emotion, facts, risks, benefits, creativity, and process into six ‘hats’ to help individuals and teams make faster, more balanced decisions.

Categories
Mental ModelsTeam Collaboration
Target Users
Product ManagerProject ManagerStudentsTeacherResearchersLeadersConsultants
Applicable
Product reviewsStrategy workshopsPostmortemsBrainstormingRisk assessmentDecision meetings
#parallel thinking #collaboration #decision making #critical thinking #creative thinking #facilitation

🎩 What is “Six Thinking Hats”?

Formal definition: Six Thinking Hats (by Edward de Bono) is a parallel thinking technique that structures discussion into six roles:

  • White (Facts & Data)
  • Red (Feelings & Intuition)
  • Black (Risks & Downsides)
  • Yellow (Benefits & Value)
  • Green (Creativity & Options)
  • Blue (Process & Control)

Plain speak: Turn a messy meeting into a color-coded game. Everyone speaks from one lens at a time, so conversations stay focused and conclusions become faster and more balanced.

🧪 Origins & Key Figures

  • Era & context: 1980s, when creativity and management science surged; de Bono argued debates are inefficient and biased.
  • Proposer: Edward de Bono, father of Lateral Thinking.
  • Notable adopters: 3M, IBM, NASA, Abbott; also widely used in schools and consulting.
  • Example: A consumer-electronics team used Six Hats in a launch review—white to scan market data, yellow for upside, black for risks, green for alternatives, blue to converge. They reached a pilot + metrics decision and saved two weeks of back-and-forth.

🛠 How to apply (3–5 steps)

  1. Blue sets the stage
    • Clarify goal, agenda, timebox, and documentation.
  2. White first
    • State known facts, unknowns, sources, and reliability—no opinions.
  3. Quick Red sweep
    • Surface gut feelings (with intensity 1–5). No justification required.
  4. Yellow then Black
    • Value/opportunities first, then risks/constraints to balance.
  5. Green diverges, Blue converges
    • Generate options/variants, then converge into action items (Owner/Deadline/Metrics).

(Tip: Use a board with six columns; keep action items in a separate list.)

📚 Case Studies

  • Case 1 (Business): SaaS pricing change
    • White: churn rising; competitor −10%.
    • Red: sales anxious.
    • Yellow: packaging increases ARPU.
    • Black: price-war risk; legacy contracts.
    • Green: annual prepay discount + add-on modules.
    • Insight: Not binary—compose solutions.
  • Case 2 (Personal/Learning): Expensive course decision
    • White: syllabus, faculty, reviews, cost.
    • Red: excitement + fear of underuse.
    • Yellow: network/career upside.
    • Black: high time cost, uncertain ROI.
    • Green: try open classes + alumni 1:1 before committing.
    • Insight: Test before invest to reduce uncertainty.
  • Case 3 (Historical/Heuristic): Apollo-style evaluations
    • Safety-heavy Black, data-driven White, breakthrough-oriented Green, Blue coordination.
    • Insight: Clear role separation aids high-risk programs.

⚖️ Pros & Limitations

Pros

  • Reduces conflict and derailment
  • Ensures multi-angle coverage
  • Easy to train and replicate

Limitations

  • Needs strong facilitation
  • Risk of overusing Red/Black
  • Output quality depends on input quality (data and creativity)

❓ FAQ

  1. How long per hat?
    • 5–10 minutes; loop twice for complex topics.
  2. Fixed sequence?
    • Suggested: Blue → White → Red → Yellow → Black → Green → Blue; adapt as needed.
  3. Remote-friendly?
    • Yes—pair with a board/doc + reactions/votes.

🧭 Where it fits

  • Work: product reviews, roadmaps, postmortems, bids, risk checks
  • Study: debates, writing outlines, research framing
  • Life: big purchases, family talks, trip planning

📗 Recommended Resources

Books

  • Six Thinking Hats — Edward de Bono.
  • Lateral Thinking — Edward de Bono.

Other

  • Talks/interviews with de Bono
  • “Six Hats” templates for Miro/FigJam/Notion

🔗 Extensions / Related Models

  • Related: 5W1H, SWOT, Ishikawa (Fishbone)
  • Combine with: PDCA for execution, OKR for alignment, RCA for root causes

🎯 One-line Summary

Color-coded roles make decisions fast, fair, and focused.