How to Make Decisions: Six Hats Thinking...!!!
The Six Hats Thinking technique enables you to break out of your
habitual thinking style and make better quality decisions. Six Hats
Thinking was created by Edward De Bono with the aim of looking at
the effect of a decision from a number of important, different
perspectives, and modifying your decision accordingly. This decision
making approach can be successfully used individually or in a group.
In short, you consider the effect of a decision by wearing
six "hats", and in turn, articulating the aspirations and concerns
of each group.
White Hat
This is the data hat, where you consider facts, figures and
information, identify any gaps in your knowledge and either fill or
acknowledge them. For example, you use historical data or case
studies to predict future behaviour, or do a cost benefit analysis.
Red Hat
This is the emotional hat, where intuition, instinct and irrational
responses are considered.
Black Hat
Is the negative, pessimistic, "the world is going to end" hat. This
viewpoint is useful as flaws and assumptions can be flushed out and
addressed, and contingency plans prepared.
Yellow Hat
Is the polar opposite of the black hat, where optimism prevails.
This is where benefits and added value are considered.
Green Hat
The Green Hat is used to put some creativity into the process. What
other options exist? Is there a trickier, smarter solution?
Blue Hat
Is the hat worn by the person facilitating the decision making
process, ensuring each hat is worn in turn and gets a fair amount of
air-time.
Here's an example of how Six Hats Thinking can be used.
A small training company are deciding on whether to deliver online
training. This is new territory for them as they have historically
only done face to face training. However, they need to grow the
business and think this is what customers want.
White Hat Thinking
The team look at their finances and see face to face training
numbers are generally stagnant, and declining for some courses.
Feedback from customers suggest a growing proportion would prefer a
training solution that could be delivered "on demand", wherever and
whenever the trainee requires. There are already a considerable
number of successful training companies with an online presence.
Red Hat Thinking
The team are nervous about their lack of experience in ma
online training. They are concerned their roles will change into
being technical support and no longer doing what they enjoy or are
good at.
Black Hat Thinking
Black hat thinking flushes out concerns about the cost and
complexity of building a website and creating an online training
platform, particularly if not all courses are suited to an online
environment. Also, how does this project fit with existing workload?
Yellow Hat Thinking
Yellow hat thinking frees the team up to believe that in a year's
time they will be wondering what they were worried about. They break
the project up into ma
deliverables. They realise that if all goes to plan, there may be a
new market in turning other companies training from off-line into on-
line training.
Green Hat Thinking
Spending some time wearing the green hat makes the team consider
other ways to deliver training, both off and on-line. They create
two different training solutions which they had not previously
considered.
Blue Hat Thinking
Throughout the discussion, one person wears the blue hat, ensuring
no thinking style dominates or colours the others.
Six Hats Thinking forces you to consider many different perspectives
when making a decision, and break out of your habitual thinking
style. This technique is particularly useful for both newly formed,
or established teams, as there is a transparent decision making
process to be followed
- Sree...
"If you limit your actions in life to things that no body can possibly find fault with, you will not do much. "
