THE 6 HATS

In Entrepreneurship Strategies yesterday we did another Edward De Bono exercise. The objective was to create a platform that can support a full can of water on two other cans distanced further than a knife apart using only three knifes then again with only two.

Before we started A-Prof. David Priilaid challenged us to take note of the idea process and who is driving the process and who is not driving the process. He wanted us to look at our group members and see who is acting passive aggressively or not acting too strongly with an idea process.

In contrast of this I feel this exercise was more aimed at trying to decide which kind of Think Hat each member in the group is based on the De Bono Six Thinking Hats.

The White Hat – The White Hat calls for information known or needed. "The facts, just the facts."

The Yellow Hat – The Yellow Hat symbolizes brightness and optimism. Under this hat you explore the positives and probe for value and benefit.

The Black Hat – The Black Hat is judgment - the devil's advocate or why something may not work. Spot the difficulties and dangers; where things might go wrong. Probably the most powerful and useful of the Hats but can become a problem if overused.

The Red Hat – The Red Hat signifies feelings, hunches and intuition. When using this hat you can express emotions and feelings and share fears, likes, dislikes, loves, and hates.

The Green Hat – The Green Hat focuses on creativity; the possibilities, alternatives, and new ideas. It's an opportunity to express new concepts and new perceptions.

The Blue Hat - The Blue Hat is used to manage the thinking process. It's the control mechanism that ensures the Six Thinking Hats guidelines are observed.

De Bono cleverly called these thinking processes ‘hats’ because hats can be taken off and changed. This is very important as if you are aware that you are more of a factual thinker (The White Hat) and you are doing a brainstorming session, it might be more valuable to focus on a more creative thought process (The Green Hat). The thinking process is completely interchangeable.

To close a quote by A-Prof. David Priilaid – Play! Good ideas come from a sense of just being a child. Don’t sensor yourself or others.