About the Book
There are six coloured hats corresponding to the six directions of thinking:
white, red, black, yellow, green, blue
Why did author chose hats as the symbols for the directions of thinking?
There is already a strong association between thinking and 'thinking hats' or 'thinking caps'. The value of a hat as a symbol is that it indicates a role. People are said to be wearing a certain hat. Another advantage is that a hat can be put on or taken off with ease. A hat is also visible to everyone around.
The results of using the Six Hats method are -
(1) Power -
with the Six Hats method, the intelligence, experience and knowledge of all the members of the group are fully used. Everyone is looking and working in the same direction.
(2) Time Saving -
with parallel thinking, every thinker at every moment is looking in the same direction. The thoughts are laid out in parallel. You do not respond to what the last person has said. You simply add another idea in parallel. In the end, the subject is fully explored quickly. Later on, if it is essential to decide between the two, a decision is made. So there is not argument at every step.
(3) Removal of Ego -
with the Six Hats method you exert your ego by performing well as a thinker under each of the hats.
(4) One Thing at a Time -
with the Six Hats method, we try to do only one thing at a time. There is a time when we look for danger (black hat). There is a time when we seek new ideas (green hat). There is a time when we focus on information (white hat). We do not try to do everything at the same time.
The colour of each hat is also related to its function -
White Hat
White is neutral and objective. The white hat is concerned with objective facts and figures.
Red Hat
Red suggests anger (seeing red), rage and emotions. The red hat gives the emotional view.
Black Hat
Black is sombre and serious. The black hat is cautious and careful. It points out the weaknesses in an idea.
Yellow Hat
Yellow is sunny and positive. The yellow hat is optimistic and covers hope and positive thinking.
Green Hat
Green is grass, vegetation and abundant, fertile growth. The green hat indicates creativity and new ideas.
Blue Hat
Blue is cool, and it is also the colour of the sky, which is above everything else. The blue hat is concerned with control, the organization of the thinking process and the use of the other hats.
The three pairs of hats:
White and red
Black and yellow
Green and blue
Two main purposes to the Six Thinking Hats concept -
(1) To simplify thinking by allowing a thinker to deal with one thing at a time.
(2) To allow a switch in thinking
About the Author
Edward de Bono is widely regarded as the leading authority in the direct teaching of thinking as a skill. He originated the concept of lateral thinking and developed formal techniques for deliberate creative thinking. He has written sixty-two books, which have been translated into thirty-seven languages, has made two television series and there are over 4,000,000 references to his work on the Internet.
His instruction in thinking has been sought by some of the leading business corporations in the world such as IBM, DuPont, Shell, Ericsson, McKinsey, Ciba-Geigy, Ford and many others. He has had a planet named after him by the International Astronomic Union and was named by a group of university professors in South Africa as one of the 250 people in all of history who have contributed most to humanity.
Dr de Bono's key contribution has been his understanding of the brain as a self-organizing system. From this solid base he set out to design practical tools for thinking. His work is in use equally in the boardrooms of some of the world's largest corporations and with four-year-olds in school. His design of the Six Hats method provides, for the first time, Western thinking with a constructive idiom instead of adversarial argument.
