The 6 hats of thinking

WHITE HAT: think of a white paper. The white hat indicates an exclusive focus on information. Information available, information needed, information missing.

RED HAT: think of fire and warmth. The red hat asks a person to express his feelings at this moment because later the feelings may change.

BLACK HAT: think of a judge's robes which are usually black.
The black hat is for caution and stops us doing things which are dangerous. The black hat is for critical thinking.
The black hat is the most useful hat but unfortunately is very easy to over use.

YELLOW HAT: think of sunshine and optimism. Under the yellow hat the thinker seeks out the values and benefits. The thinker sees how the idea can be made workable and put into practice.
Without the yellow hat creativity is almost impossible because we would never see the benefits of an idea.


GREEN HAT: think of vegetation, growth, energy, branches, shoots etc. The green hat is the action hat. Under the green hat we put forward alternatives, we seek out new ideas, we modify and change suggested ideas.

BLUE HAT: think of blue as sky and overview. The blue hat is the control hat. The blue hat is also concerned with outcomes, conclusions, summaries and what happens next.