The Six thinking hats was developed by Edward de Bono in 1985. It has since become an international bestseller and integrated into many corporations for decision making saving tremendous amount of time and giving clear focus to complex business case situations. It focuses on “what can be” versus “what is”.
Traditional thinking was defined 2300 years ago by the “Greek Gang of Three” Plato, Socrates and Aristotle. Their thinking was based on an argumentative model which is fine but not complete. Six thinking hats uses constructive, or parallel thinking model using the analogy of six hats to represent each perspective. The six hats are:
- The white hat – facts and figures
- The red hat - emotions and feelings
- The black hat – cautious and careful
- The yellow hat – Speculative and positive
- The green hat - creative thinking
- The blue hat – control of thinking
This method is an excellent technique for making sure a problem is analyzed from all directions. It is a process that makes case analysis simple. It succeeds for several reasons:
Power: The technique allows members of a group to go in one direction rather than defending a position. The experience and knowledge from all members is directed at the case.
Time Saving: following the process and eliminating the argumentative method decisions are made more quickly, less time arguing.
Removal of Ego: presenting and defending an idea can be become a defense of your ego versus real problem solving. With parallel thinking the team is collecting and discussing ideas.
One thing at a time: In this world where ADD seems to enter the boardroom and ideas are going from one topic to another, this method defines the focus and direction of the thinking process, allowing for real outcomes in a timely fashion.

The White Hat
Like a blank sheet of paper waiting for information to be written down the white hat represents information. What do we know? What do we need to know and what questions do we need to ask? Information can be both quantitative and qualitative.
The white hat is often used first to lay the groundwork for the other “hats” or used near the end to see if the analysis fits with the information available.
White is neutral it collects facts.

The Red Hat
The fire within, red evokes emotion and feelings. Here the team gives feedback on feelings,
….I don’t think this is the direction we should take
….this feels right
….I feel that this concept will create a lot of excitement in the market
The need to explain or justify is not necessary and should not be allowed. Emotions and feelings can be visceral, fear, shock, excitement or more enduring that will require contemplation and reflection.

The Black Hat
This is what protects us. It prevents us from making decisions that are dangerous, illegal, or contrary to the values of the organization. Black hat is cautious and careful. It helps identify why something may not work, why from experience it has failed. It is skeptical about data or ideas. If ideas and concepts can get past this stage then due diligence has occurred. If a case is studied and we use the black hat to question the facts or look for dangers, then we have also followed due diligence.

The Yellow Hat
This is the hat of brightness and optimism. It intentionally searches for the benefits and values of ideas.
The Yellow Hat is one of the most complicated hats to use because there must be valid logical reasons for optimism. The reasons must support the benefits claimed, explaining why something has value or might work.
It is important to use the Yellow Hat because it encourages people to look only at the positive side instead of the negative, which helps get plans back on track.
The Green Hat
This is the creative mode of thinking. Green hat is concerned with creating new ideas and new ways of looking at things. It encourages thinking outside the box to explore other possibilities and alternatives.
Typical question that help with the creative process are:
• Are there any other ideas here?
• Are there any additional alternatives?
• Can this be done differently?
Lateral thinking is often used here.
The Blue Hat
This is the hat for process control. People who are in charge usually use it in meetings. The purpose of this hat is to make sure that all the other hats are being used.
The person wearing the Blue Hat will generally direct everyone into whichever thinking hat would be most useful. For example, if there is too much focus on what could wrong, the Blue hat will direct activity into Yellow Hat thinking.

Conclusion
In conclusion we can say that the Six Thinking Hats is an organizing tool that other techniques can fit into. You may use Pareto principle in data collection or a mind map to organize and collect ideas with each “hat”. At the end of the six hat process the decision often is already made and is obvious to the team.
It brings emotion and skepticism into the mix instead of focusing strictly on the rational. It also encourages the use of creativity in the decision making process. Decisions made using this technique will be sounder and less likely to fail because it considers all of the positive, negative and neutral aspects of the issues at hand.

In the end if a decision cannot be made or it resolves to two choices and a blended solution is not possible, then a "red" hat decision must made if we are to move forward. All facts and positions considered the final choice is emotional.