Book Summary – Six Thinking Hats® by Edward de Bono

Focusing on one mode of thinking at a time reduces confusion, encourages balanced discussion, and allows teams to shift viewpoints without conflict. Edward de Bono explores this powerful technique that helps you approach a complex situation or challenge from different perspectives. In this free Six Thinking Hats summary, we’ll give an overview of the 6 Hats methodology, as well as the key takeaways from each of the 6 hats.

In essence, this article will cover:

• What Is The Main Point of the Six Thinking Hats Method?
• How to Use De Bono’s Six Thinking Hats?
• 6 Hats, 6 Thinking Styles
• Getting More from Six Thinking Hats
• Six Thinking Hats Book Chapters
• About the Author of Six Thinking Hats
• Six Thinking Hats Quotes
• Frequently Asked Questions

Let’s dive straight in!

What is the Six Thinking Hats about?

Six Thinking Hats is a book that aims to help individuals and teams improve decision-making and problem-solving by deliberately examining a situation from six different perspectives: facts, emotions, risks, feelings, creativity, and process.

By “wearing” each hat sequentially, people can focus on a single mode of thinking and explore multiple viewpoints systematically. This reduces confusion, conflict, and ego during discussions, leading to clearer ideas and more effective solutions.

There are many benefits to using this method, including

• More power: We are now fully utilizing the thinking capacity, experience and knowledge of all the group members.
• Save time: There is no longer a need to respond out of politeness, or to argue every point of view. Meetings can take half to one-fifteenth of the time.
• Remove ego: There is no ego to be exerted from attacking and putting down others, to get your way or show off how clever you are. The only way to exert your ego with Six Hats is to be a good thinker.
• Simple: By focusing on one thing at a time, it is easier to maneuver complex tasks/ challenges and get a full picture at the end.

How to Use De Bono’s Six Thinking Hats?

De Bono’s Six Thinking Hats can be used either individually or in sequence to guide clearer thinking and discussion. Each hat represents a specific mode. You can use a single hat to request a specific type of thinking, or move through the hats sequentially to explore a topic fully. The order may be planned in advance or adapted during the discussion, and hats can be revisited as needed.

Here’s an overview of how to use the 6 Hats:

Here are some important points to note: 

• Hats are about direction (“what can happen”), not descriptions (“what is” or “what has happened”)
• Hats are not meant to label or categorize people; The main idea is that all of us can and should think in every direction.
• Use it like a game, to set the rules of behaviour and have everyone follow those rules. Because it targets behaviours, not personalities, it is a great tool to effect change. The book and our complete version of the Six Thinking Hats summary includes several guidelines to help you to implement this with your team.

6 Hats, 6 Thinking Styles

The Six Thinking Hats teaching strategy is a structured method that guides learners to think in the same direction by focusing on one mode of thinking at a time. This focused approach simplifies complex topics, saves time by avoiding unnecessary arguments, and helps participants build a clear, complete understanding of the subject.

Research on Cognitive Load Theory, developed by John Sweller, shows that when people try to process multiple types of information at the same time, mental overload can occur. Structuring thinking into clear stages can reduce this cognitive load and improve problem-solving performance. The Six Thinking Hats method follows a similar principle by separating different types of thinking. 

1. WHITE HAT

White thinking is for putting up facts and figures in a neutral and objective way. Look at available information and also identify information gaps, so we can choose to fill them or just take account of them. This is where you provide background information, analyse and extrapolate historical trends.

2. RED HAT

The red hat represents the emotional view. It recognizes and gives visibility to feelings, intuition and gut reaction as an important part of thinking. The red hat allows a thinker to switch in and out of his feeling mode, and also to invite others to share their feelings, in a non-judgemental way. By making emotions visible, we can observe their influence in the thinking process.

3. BLACK HAT

The black hat represents caution and what could go wrong. It points out what doesn’t fit, what may not work, what is wrong, and hence protects us from fatal flaws and wasted resources. The black hat recognizes the value of caution and risk assessment; it makes our plans more robust.

4. YELLOW HAT

Yellow hat thinking focuses on value, benefits and optimism. It is positive and constructive. It helps us to develop “value sensitivity” and invest time to seek out value. Yellow hat thinking is often useful when thinking of marketing strategies and branding.

5. GREEN HAT

The green hat is about creativity, new ideas and change. This is when we present alternative and new ideas, possibilities, and modify or improve suggested ideas. It can come in handy when thinking about creative ideas.

6. BLUE HAT

Blue hat thinking focuses on process control, and managing and organizing. It has a strategic role for laying out the overall plan, and also for moment-to-moment instructions. It helps to organize the other hats, assess priorities, list constraints etc. Unlike the other hats, the blue hat is a permanent role. It is worn by the facilitator or chairperson of the meeting, though the leader may also assign the blue-hat role to others, or invite participants to wear the blue hat.

Here’s a visual recap of the 6 hats mentioned above. Do get more details from our complete 9-page Six Thinking Hats summary.

Getting More from Six Thinking Hats

Ready to learn more about each of the 6 hats and start applying the 6-hats technique? Then, do check out our complete summary bundle, which includes a one-page infographic summary in pdf, a 9-page text summary in pdf, and an 18-min audio summary in mp3.

The Six Thinking Hats book rates 4.6 stars on Amazon (1,987 reviews) and 3.7 on Goodreads (13,656 reviews).

This revised edition of the book came with Dr. de Bono’s insights, updates, and expansions after 14 years of experience applying the Six Thinking Hats method. He acknowledges that the technique works best when there is adequate practice for it to become a common language in an organization.

In his book, he provides many real-world scenarios and simulations to help us imagine how the hats can and should be used, as well as how to differentiate between the different hats. You can purchase the book here or debonogroup.com for more details and resources on the 6-hats technique.

Want to take a comprehensive approach to critical thinking, creativity, and problem-solving?  Then do check out our summaries for:

• Think Like Da Vinci, to unlock creativity and genius through seven principles inspired by Leonardo da Vinci.
• A More Beautiful Question is a book that encourages breakthrough thinking by asking powerful questions that spark innovation and change.
• The 5 Elements of Effective Thinking is a book that explains practical strategies to improve how you think, learn, and solve problems.

Who should read this:

• Leaders and managers who want to run more productive meetings and improve decision-making speed.
• Teams to help them align in the same direction.
• Entrepreneurs who want to see challenges from multiple perspectives
• Coaches, trainers & facilitators to help them guide structured discussions.

Six Thinking Hats Book Chapter

Our summaries are reworded and reorganized for clarity and conciseness. Here’s the full chapter listing from Six Thinking Hats by Edward de Bono, to give an overview of the original content structure in the book.

Six Thinking Hats [Back Bay Books Year 1999 / ISBN:978-0316178310]

About the Author of Six Thinking Hats

Six Thinking Hats was written by Dr. Edward de Bono, one of the leading authorities in the fields of creative thinking, innovation, and the direct teaching of thinking. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Economics in 2005. In 1967, he coined the term Lateral Thinking, which is now part of the language and is listed in the Oxford English Dictionary.

Dr. de Bono was born in Malta. He was a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford, holds an MA in psychology and physiology from Oxford, a D. Phil. in Medicine, and also a Ph.D. from Cambridge. His concepts have shaped the practices of many companies globally, and his methods are now used widely in school curriculum. Dr. de Bono has written 70 books with translations into 38 languages.

Six Thinking Hats Quotes

“Juggling with six balls at the same time is rather difficult. Tossing up one ball at a time is much easier.”
“The biggest enemy of thinking is complexity, for that leads to confusion.”
“When thinking is clear and simple, it becomes more enjoyable and more effective.”
“A vision sets direction for thinking and for action.”
“Value and benefit are by no means always obvious.”
“In the end there should be a clear map of possible problems, obstacles, difficulties and dangers.”

Frequently Asked Questions

Click here to download the Six Thinking Hats infographic & summary