How to tap on different modes of thinking

Do you tend to be more optimistic or pessimistic? Are you always focusing on facts or making decisions based on your intuition?

The next time you feel irritated by that colleague who keeps bringing up potential problems, or feel frustrated with the boss who refuses to make a decision without hard numbers, consider this interesting concept: All perspectives have a role to play in sound decision making, and you could harness these different viewpoints rather than be frustrated by them.

How do you do that?

Six Thinking Hats® is an interesting tool to orchestrate a group of people to focus on one thing at a time. Each of the 6 hats represents a different style of thinking (facts & logic, emotions, devil’s advocate, optimism, creativity, process-orientation).

Team members can “put on” or “take off” different thinking hats, hence thinking in the same direction as a team, yet systematically explore different perspectives without offending one another.  The method can also be used individually to organize one’s thoughts to get clarity and a more complete picture.

If you take a step back and think about this, it makes perfect sense.  The perspectives represented by each of the 6 hats all add value to a sound decision-making process.

Should you go with facts/ information or intuition?  Well, why not both?

Should you consider the pros or cons? Obviously, you have to weigh both.

Should you brainstorm/ be creative or consolidate your options?  Well, both are important.

The challenge is, how do you go about organizing random thoughts and ideas from all 6 areas and integrating them into a sound decision?  Well, read more about the Six Thinking Hats® method by Edward de Bono in our book summary, digest the key highlights with our book summary and infographic, or grab a copy of the book for more details!

Click here to Download Six Thinking Hats book summary and infographic