CREATIVITY - Book analysis: De Bono, Edward - Six Thinking Hats ----- PART 2

As I promised, I will continue to talk about the hats. I found some spare time during the weekend that I put to good use ;)
I will talk about each hat separately.
In my next blog posting I will probably give a brief summary about the book. So stay tuned.

THE WHITE HAT:

The author tells us the best circumstances in which to use the hats. Even though no order is mandatory, in some cases it is recommended. I found his arguments pretty solid.
It is better to be used towards the beginning since it reveals all the background available info. But it can also be used at the end to put all the pieces together and summarize the ideas created.
The hat does not generate ideas. It is neutral in that aspect. It only lays them out and defines the objective, asking the factual question that needs to be searched for. Thus it points out the parts that need to be worked on (the missing information).
It is important for the wearer to communicate just the pure fact out. He/she should be neutral in that aspect since any subjectivity may easily influence the outcome. De Bono gives as an example a lawyer, who even though it may seem to asks factual questions like “Where were you” or “What did X say when you approached him”, it actually represents the opposite side of the white hat, since he/she tries to “bend” the story through these questions in such a way that it will make his/her client innocent.
Own opinions are not allowed when using this hat. Even if statements such as “allegations, gossip and hearsay” (De Bono, 34) are allowed, these beliefs need to have realistic foundations (be checked as facts) and not be mere opinions of the speaker
The author also does a good job in describing how the rest of the participants should prepare themselves for the debate. He does not advise anyone to start any discussion with a preconceived idea. The ideas that help reach the final decision should evolve naturally, as more and more thoughts are added, making the context more comprehensive. De Bono points out that the Western culture does exactly the opposite, since it just bends the preconceived idea till it fits the shape that all the participants agree upon (he refers to the consensus meetings). The white hat hinders this kind of rationale, since it offers everyone who is wearing it to renounce to his/her preformed ideas and contribute with objective facts.

THE RED HAT

As I mentioned in my previous blog, the red hat symbolizes feelings and emotions. Feelings will appear while making any decisions, so the red hat merely enables them to be openly revealed and ensures that they do not remain hidden. They should not be justified, since this may inhibit their conception. The red hat comes as a complement to the white hat.
De Bono starts his analysis by stating the advantages of using the hat. First he talks about ordinary emotions, such as dislikes, sympathies, fears and so on. The author tells us that it is better to bring these thoughts to the surface, so that everybody is aware of them and their influence on the decision making. Furthermore, people do not have to spend time trying to figure their colleagues feelings about a certain issue. They can just offer them the hat and let them confess, thus setting aside any ambiguities, confusions or misconceptions that might have arisen if that person would have remained silent. This way, counterbalance measures may be established in order to render the final result as fast and objective as possible.
De Bono continues his idea, talking about more complex judgments, such as sense or intuition, which are feelings that need to be nurtured. The red hat enables the persons wearing it to express their “hunches” which are at the source of creativity and discoveries. But they should look only for those “intuitions” which are based on judgment and experience. Good entrepreneurs “seem to have this feel for situations” (De Bono, 57) which gives them an extra sense, if you may call it that way, with which they may see new opportunities based on their experience and knowledge in the field.
I was amazed by the amount of practicabilities the hat had. For example, the time spend on a negotiations can be greatly reduced. Since the "negotiation" is due to the existence of variable values (De Bono, 65) (different valuations of the same object), by stating each of the party’s perceived values directly (make them wear the hat), maters can be resolved much faster.

THE BLACK HAT

Also names “the hat of caution” (De Bono, 71), the black hat analyzes what things to avoid and be careful about – analyzes the risks of an idea or the dangers it may bring. The wearer must point out things that do not fit in the overall scenario, things that might cause problems later on. By implementing a logical thinking pattern, this hat relies on criticism (not to be confounded with emotional criticism, which falls under the red hat).
This hat does not favor balanced arguments. It should focus only on the negative aspects of things, the pessimistic view. Focusing only on he cons of every argument, “the black hat legitimizes the value and importance of caution” (De Bono, 75). It points out weaknesses in a project, making it easy to decide whether the plan should continue or be abandoned.
It is important not to argument the thinking, but merely to point out areas that require caution. Also it should not be abused, since it always was easier to criticize than to come up with something productive.

THE YELLOW HAT

This hat comes in play in order to counterbalance the black hat. It is conceived to render the benefits of the ideas and find out opportunities. It represents the optimistic way of looking at things. Compared to the black hat, the yellow one is harder to apply since the brain is more inclined to detect dangers than values. Its goal is to set value into ideas; view them in a “speculative-positive” way (De Bono, 91).
The author very well points out the small details that may make huge differences. For example self interest is very important when wearing the hat, since people think more positive if the idea came from them. But often times this is not the case, so the wearer must deliberately search for optimistic ideas. For that it must always ask him/herself the following question “what to focus on in order to make the idea happen?”
Again, De Bono reminds us to use the hat cautiously. It should not be used to the extreme, and make people overoptimistic since they might loose touch with reality. The author gives a good example and refers to lottery fanatics, whose persistent actions and overconfidence rend them more failures than wins.
Nonetheless, these ideas that point out long shots chances should be mentioned, since once they are said, chances of increasing their occurrence odds can be thought out, making them in some cases viable initiatives.
Positive ideas are best to be justified. But this is not a set rule. Speculations are also encouraged, as long as they lead to constructive ideas. The black hat should be very active when such a case appears and do its best to filter the information afterwards as much as possible in order to determine its feasibility. The yellow hat can come again after the black hat and correct those ideas that were criticized.

THE GREEN HAT

It is used to promote new ideas and new approaches. The hat either improves the existing ones or comes with alternative possibilities. It involves risky exploration of unfamiliar territory.
De Bono sets this hat apart from the rest. Even if all the prior hats demanded for the wearer a certain input: white – information input, red – feeling, black – criticism and so on, the green hat demands actual effort to be invested. He/she is to come up with new ideas, so the green hat wearer may demand time and brainstorming for generating them. Also, instead of judging (as the black and yellow), the greet hat wearers re-quire “movement” (De Bono, 124) meaning passing the idea through different circumstances in order to encourage creativity.
I was intrigued by the radical approach the author makes in order to promote green hat thinking. He says that provocations are encouraged in order to generate thoughts. Placing extreme ideas (some of which may be even illogical or absurd) may be accepted in this scenario. The results may be either to remain stuck, to end up at in the same place you started or come up with a new pattern that may turn out to be helpful.
Overall, as far as I understood, the goal of the green hat is to generate as many ideas as possible in order to have alternatives from which to choose at the end, even if some require you to go beyond the obvious. The creativity process may be and it is recommended to be paused in any moment in order to allow the thinkers to find any alternatives or new ideas within that paused stage that may lead to other solutions (branching).

THE BLUE HAT

The author says that “The blue hat is for thinking about thinking.” (De Bono, 145) What he tries to say is that it acts as “manager” whose main task is to control.
The author goes through all steps in which the hat may prove useful. If we use it at the beginning the wearer will define the situation, the purpose of the discussion, the goals that need to be achieved. The blue hat defines the strategy that will be adopted, maintains discipline along the way and makes sure that the main discussion doesn’t alter from its main course.
The hat, as the author mentions should be used by the facilitator, chairperson or leader of the session. Once the person undertakes that role, he/she cannot change it. Nevertheless, others may suggest alternatives procedures to him/her. Still the main role of the hat wearer is to monitor and not to interfere in the discussions, unless he/she wants to make adjustments to the direction of the discussion or impose discipline.
At the end of the discussion, the blue hat wearer will ask fort the outcome or summary of the work and see the progress done. Even though he/she is allowed to make comments along the way with what he/she observes, a summary and a conclusion are essential since it summarizes all the scattered ideas that were said during the discussions. Even if no progress was done, the blue hat still has to mention that.