I know I have.

I’ve been in meetings, professionally, socially and in a volunteering/community setting which haven’t gone well for all sorts of reasons.

Now, at the risk of sounding like I need to get out more, I think that a well run meeting is a thing of beauty. There, I said it. Especially when you have difficult people, shrinking violets and/or big personalities in the room. Often in a professional setting people don’t give themselves ‘permission’ to speak up because of their position relative to others in the room.

That’s why I say it is a thing of beauty because facilitating meetings well can take a lot of skill, experience and at times diplomacy. In the absence of sufficient stock of all of these, there is something else we can do and that is to adopt a bit of creative meeting management, using a contrived ‘structure’ to deliberately constrain the meeting and as a result provide more focus.

There are actually a few different approaches available some more suited to certain types of meetings but one which I like a lot and works well in most settings is 6 hats thinking.

Not just for meetings: It’s worth pointing out that this concept is pretty interesting in and of itself and can be used for all kinds of purposes (more on this later), not just for bringing more focus and results to meetings – but it does work particularly well to bring more focus and results to meetings which is why I am using this as an example of a good use of the concept.

So What is 6 Hats Thinking?

Conceived by Edward de Bono back in 1985 it is basically the idea of getting people to move outside their habitual thinking style and look at things from one or more specific perspectives (each represented by a different coloured hat).

Who would have thought that six funky coloured hats could prevent confrontation?

Well, yes, they can do just that, each hat representing a different style of thinking, with every perspective being valid.

So what are these hats? I hear you ask…

Well, let’s just put them on and see how they change the way we think.

Wearing the Red Hat, you look at things instinctively using your intuition, gut reaction, and emotion. In doing so you should also be considering the emotional and instinctive reactions of others. Also bearing in mind that gut reactions are not always logical, try to understand the potential responses of people who do not fully know your reasoning or who may not necessarily share your point of view.

Wearing the Black Hat you become very cynical. Look for problems and why things might not work. Look for pitfalls and things that could derail the idea or project. This is important because it highlights the weak points in a plan. It allows you to eliminate them, alter them, or prepare contingency plans to counter them. Black Hat thinking helps to make your plans “tougher” and more resilient. Done well, it can help avoid pitfalls, risks and issues before you embark on a course of action. Often when people are too ‘close’ to a project or idea they can be too optimistic and one of the real benefits of de Bonos 6 hats thinking, particularly with respect to the Black Hat is that it enables us to take a step back and see problems in advance when we otherwise might miss them.

Wearing the Yellow Hat you need to think positively. Glass half full. You are the optimist who champions an idea and looks for ways to support it. You are a cheerleader and tend to see all the benefits of the decision and the value in it. You motivate others to give things a go. Yellow Hat thinking can help you to keep going when things look too difficult.

Wearing the Green Hat you need to get creative. You are the person in the room who has all the radical ideas. You offer the outsiders perspective. Thinking outside the box. There is no such thing as a bad idea when wearing the Green Hat and you are the person in the room who develops the more creative solutions to a problem. Green Hat thinking (representing creativity) is a freewheeling way of thinking.

Wearing the Blue Hat, you are in control. Somebody needs to be. To direct the available resources in the right place and make sure that the right people are engaged at the right time. The Blue Hat represents process control. The person wearing the Blue Hat is the one in the room who can bring people into the discussion when needed. For example, if things are getting a bit negative, asking for some input from the guy in the yellow hat. If data is needed, engaging the person with the white hat. The blue hat is often the chair of a meeting or the facilitator.

Wearing the White Hat, you focus on the available data. You want evidence and to look at things with an evidence-based approach. This includes knowing what data is missing or not possible. Looking at gaps in your knowledge or available data and making adjustments accordingly – either trying to find the missing data or make allowances. You will look at any and all information you have, conduct analysis and look for trends in that data to se what can be learned from it.

When Else Can I Wear 6 Hats?

Yes, you’re right!

The great news is that you can wear them all yourself, or any you like – and you can change them as often as you like too. You don’t even have to be in a meeting.

Now that you understand the concept, it can be used anytime any place anywhere for reflection or to test or change a given view you have of something (or someone).

In fact we all can adopt various habitual thought patterns and have typical ways of looking at things (of which there are more than 6), we just don’t necessarily associate a coloured hat with our perspective. Some of us tend to be more positive in the way we look at things (like the yellow hat thinking), some more creative (green hat), some more cynical (black hat).

de Bono’s 6 hats concept just gives us a model with which we can give ourselves permission to change the lens.

For example if you are very positive, try wearing the black hat once in a while – (can be helpful e.g. in avoiding scams etc).

If on the other hand you are very cynical, try wearing the white hat (looking at available data) to confront your cynicism or the yellow hat – (can be helpful in taking opportunities or building trust).

Have you ever come across someone who always pokes holes in your ideas, always offering you problems but never solutions? Someone that can always tell you why things won’t work, rather than looking for ways to support you and help make something work? Well, now you have something you can say to them: ‘it’s always easy to wear the black hat’ (use judiciously).