Wear 6 Thinking Hats to solve problems in a creative way 🎩

The Six Thinking Hats is a creative problem solving model presented by Edward de Bono in 1986. This technique that can be used to explore solutions and unravel ideas and options that might otherwise be overlooked by a homogeneously thinking group.

Human beings think & reason in a specific way based on their personality. For instance , an analytical person will produce ideas differently from the person who is more emotional in nature. An optimistic person will generate ideas which might be completely different from the pessimist one.

Edward de Bono discovered 6 types of “ Thinking Hats”. In this technique , each participants of a problem solving team is assigned a “Thinking Hat” while the solutions are discussed among the group.

6 types of Thinking Hats

1. White Hat :- It talks about facts only. It clearly states across the information which is already available & is unadulterated by emotion or subjectivity.
   ( Pro tip — White stands for purity so the White Hat symbolises factual information )
2. Yellow Hat :- The Yellow Hat exemplify optimism, confidence, and positivity. It explore value and benefit of the solution.
   (Pro tip — Yellow stands for shine & being sunny. It sends happy & positive vibes. )
3. Black Hat :- Participants donning this hat turns into a devil’s advocate where the primary focus is to identify why the solution won’t work or will face hurdles . It is critical, judgemental & skeptical approach towards a solution. It turns out to be the most powerful hat if used wisely.
   (Pro tip — Black signify darkness & pessimism. The Black Hat is the skeptic, and pessimist look towards the problems.)
4. Red Hat :- It yearns for feelings, emotions & intuition. Participant deploying this hat should focus on expressing real emotions and feelings without any inhibition or logic. It’s completely subjective opinion towards the solution.
   (Pro tip — Red is the color of love & emotion. It allows emotion and subjectivity to take center stage.)
5. Green Hat :- It gives platform for creativity to bloom. It talks about possibilities, new ideas and substitutes. It rewards new concepts, insights & out of the box thinking towards problem solving.
   (Pro tip — Green epitomises nature . The Green Hat is creative & generates lots of fresh ideas without worrying about their practicality.)
6. Blue Hat :- It’s an overarching hat which provides structured thinking & high level view of the situation. It helps to streamline the overall thinking process .
   ( Pro tip — Blue is the color of the sky. Participants wearing this hat can have a complete overview of the thinking process owned by the rest of the 5 hats.)

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