Book Review: Six Thinking Hats

Thinking is a skill. Like any other skill it can be improved.

Six Thinking Hats aims at making your thinking process more effective by removing something that I rather enjoy but which makes any decision longer to come: arguments.

People do not use arguments because it is the preferred way. They simply do not know any other way.
- Edward de Bono, Six Thinking Hats

I admit, I'm guilty... I've been in a few useless debates before. I'll try to change now that I know another way...

Instead of arguing back and forth over an idea, it might be worth it for everyone in the meeting to gather information over a single axis at a time.

So when you explore an idea, you might want to wear a different hat to be sure to explore all sides. This can be done in group meetings or if you are alone thinking about a problem. Colors are used because they offer a neutral language which is easy to remember:

• Blue: overall view, control of the thinking process
• White: cold facts and information
• Yellow: hopes, positive outcomes, advantages
• Black: caution, warning, disadvantages
• Red: emotions, feelings, hunches
• Green: creativity, new ideas

The premise is that it is difficult to view all sides at once. In a meetings it gets worse because someone might be focused on finding what is good about an idea while someone else is focused on the drawbacks. Disagreement follows and it becomes a willpower contest.

A brief example

You do not have to use every hat for each decision. You might for example start with a blue hat to define the problem and the desired outcome. The you might gather as much information as you can about the problem (white hat). Then talk about the advantages of a particular solution (yellow hat). If the advantages are not what you expect, then just drop the idea and explore something else. No need to argue over a bad idea...

On the other hand if the idea looks good, then request everyone to put on their black hat and explore the hurdles that might encountered during the implementation.

Power of the team

So I invite you to think about the principles behind the book and try to find alternatives to arguments to solve problems. I know it can be fun, but arguments just are not that effective...

By focusing on each side separately, everyone is sure to have a global view and the decision is probably going to be easier to reach. Everyone is focused in a single direction at a time. Everyone is working together instead of against each others. If you're a software development team, it might be time to act like one...