Book Review: Six Thinking Hats by Edward de Bono

Edward de Bono’s 1985 book on thinking styles is based on the radical premise that one can choose a thinking style. Taking an approach similar to Covey’s First Habit (Be Proactive), de Bono then makes the idea more palatable by presenting an acting technique to implement it.

Each hat color represents a mindset and rather than adopting those mindsets at all times the thinker simply does their best to think and speak in the manner that such a hat-wearer would think and act.

The red hat wearer expressed unjustified emotions and gut reactions. The black hat wearer is entitled to be as logical-negative as they can. The white hat wearer plays the role of a computer, spitting out relevant facts and figures absent interpretation.

De Bono is very clear about the non-necessity of choosing a hat at all times. The six thinking hats are only tools to be picked up when needed and laid down when the need has passed. When practiced regularly, however, the thinker should become increasingly conversant in a broad range of thinking styles.

Key Concepts

Key concepts are either recurring themes or strong individual points made with a fairly general application. Books with a more theoretical bent will have more “key concepts.”

• The western ideal of thinking as exclusively critical and argumentative has limitations. De Bono advocates a “map making” style, on the basis that if a good enough map is made, the best route often becomes obvious. In an analogy to color printing, each thinking style, in turn, adds its separate color to the map.
• Going through the motions of a thinking style and making them into an act removes the ego from the process. If two people are arguing their points, their ego will resist giving in to their opponent’s points. If they are play-acting a role in a discussion, then their ego becomes tied to performing the role as well as possible, which is much more productive to achieving progress.
• The white hat is the hat of facts, and figures. The white hat thinker imitates a computer. Facts are divided into two tiers: confirmed and unconfirmed. White hat thinking is completely neutral.
• The red hat is the hat of feelings and emotions. Feelings are also divided into two types: ordinary emotions such as far and suspicion, and complex intuitions. These emotions are never justified on a logical basis.
• The black hat is the hat of negative assessment, and of identifying the wrong and incorrect, the risks and dangers, and the faults.
• The yellow hat is the positive, optimistic, and constructive hat. The emphasis is on benefits, not costs. This is the hat of dreams and visions.
• The green hat is the hat of creative thinking. The emphasis is on alternatives.
• The blue hat is the control hat: the conductor of the orchestra of hats. The blue hat sets the focus and defines the problem.
• A specific hat need not be chosen and worn at all times. The hats are tools to be applied selectively and laid down when the need has passed.

Useful Features

Useful features are like pages, diagrams, or tables that one might bookmark or dog-ear for quick reference. Books oriented toward application will generally have more “useful features.”

• Summaries: The Six Thinking Hats Method (pp. 199-207)

Publisher’s Blurb

From the dust jacket:

“Thinking is the ultimate human resource. Yet we can never be satisfied with out most important skill. No matter how good we become, we should always want to be better”—Edward de Bono

Dr. Edward de Bono is regarded as the leading international authority in the teaching of thinking as a skill. With Six Thinking Hats, he has written an easy-to-follow book that will do for thinking what the One Minute Manager did for management.

“Thinking often proceeds as drift and waffle and reaction,” writes de Bono. In Six Thinking Hats the author presents a simple but effective way to become a better thinker. He separates thinking into six distinct modes, identified with six colored “thinking hats”:

WHITE: facts, figures, and objective information

RED: emotions and feelings

BLACK: logical negative thoughts

YELLOW: positive constructive thoughts

GREEN: creativity and new ideas

BLUE: control of the other hats and thinking steps

“Putting on” a hat focuses thinking; “switching” hats redirects thinking. With the different parts of the thinking process thus clearly defined, discussions can be better focused and more productive.

Using real-life situations as examples, Dr. de Bono creates scenarios that show how the effective use of “thinking hats” can:

• focus thinking more clearly
• lead to more creative thinking
• improve communication and thus decision-making

Dr. de Bono’s concepts are applied by some of the world’s largest corporations. Six Thinking Hats clearly illustrates why they have found his ideas essential for their management techniques.

Table of Contents

Preface

Chapter 1: Playacting: If you playact being a thinker, you will become one

Chapter 2: Putting on a Hat: A very deliberate process

Chapter 3: Intention and Performance

Chapter 4: Role-Playing: An ego holiday

Chapter 5: Melancholy and Other Fluids

Chapter 6: The Purpose of Six Hat Thinking

Chapter 7: Six Hats, Six Colors

Chapter 8: The White Hat: Facts and figures

Chapter 9: White Hat Thinking: Whose fact is it?

Chapter 10: White Hat Thinking: Japanese-style input

Chapter 11: White Hat Thinking: Facts, truth, and philosophers

Chapter 12: White Hat Thinking: Who puts on the hat?

Chapter 13: Summary of White Hat Thinking

Chapter 14: The Red Hat: Emotions and Feelings

Chapter 15: Ret Hat Thinking: The place of emotions in thinking

Chapter 16: Ret Hat Thinking: Intuition and hunches

Chapter 17: Ret Hat Thinking: Moment to moment

Chapter 18: Ret Hat Thinking: The use of emotions

Chapter 19: Ret Hat Thinking: The language of emotions

Chapter 20: Summary of Red Hat Thinking

Chapter 21: The Black Hat: What is wrong with it

Chapter 22: Black Hat Thinking: Substance and method

Chapter 23: Black Hat Thinking: Past and future substance

Chapter 24: Black Hat Thinking: Negative indulgence

Chapter 25: Black Hat Thinking: Negative or positive first?

Chapter 26: Summary of Black Hat Thinking

Chapter 27: The Yellow Hat: Speculative-Positive

Chapter 28: Yellow Hat Thinking: The positive spectrum

Chapter 29: Yellow Hat Thinking: Reasons and logical support

Chapter 30: Yellow Hat Thinking: Constructive thinking

Chapter 31: Yellow Hat Thinking: Speculation

Chapter 32: Yellow Hat Thinking: Relation to creativity

Chapter 33: Summary of Yellow Hat Thinking

Chapter 34: The Green Hat: Creative and lateral thinking

Chapter 35: Green Hat Thinking: Lateral thinking

Chapter 36: Green Hat Thinking: Movement instead of judgment

Chapter 37: Green Hat Thinking: The need for provocation

Chapter 38: Green Hat Thinking: Alternatives

Chapter 39: Green Hat Thinking: Personality and skill

Chapter 40: Green Hat Thinking: What happens to the ideas?

Chapter 41: Summary of Green Hat Thinking

Chapter 42: The Blue Hat: Control of thinking

Chapter 43: Blue Hat Thinking: Focus

Chapter 44: Blue Hat Thinking: Program design

Chapter 45: Blue Hat Thinking: Summaries and conclusions

Chapter 46: Blue Hat Thinking: Control and monitoring

Chapter 47: Summary of Blue Hat Thinking

Conclusion

Summaries: The Six Thinking Hats Method