In the 1980s, psychologist Edward de Bono set out to solve a common problem: How can groups make better decisions without falling into the same old arguments and dead ends?
His answer was the Six Thinking Hats technique.
This method encourages different modes of thinking, like creativity, caution, and critical analysis, to work together in a structured way.
Let’s look at how this technique can turn chaotic meetings into productive sessions. 💪
How to Use the Six Thinking Hats in Meetings Effectively
Summarize this article for me please⏰ 60-Second Summary
Here’s a handy checklist for applying the Six Thinking Hats technique to your meetings:
- Set the stage: Define the issue and assign a facilitator to guide the meeting
- Collaborate in real-time: Use ClickUp Docs to create and share agendas, allowing team members to contribute before and during the meeting
- Assign hats: Create ClickUp Tasks for each ‘hat’ and assign responsibilities to team members
- Facilitate discussion: Move through each hat, ensuring every perspective is covered
- Visualize ideas: Use ClickUp Whiteboards to capture and organize ideas
- Collect feedback: Use Tasks and Whiteboards for real-time input and analysis
- Summarize and take action: Use ClickUp Task Checklists to assign actionable items
- Follow-up and review: Schedule follow-ups and track progress using ClickUp Dashboards and Calendar View
Summarize this article for me pleaseWhat Are the Six Thinking Hats?
The Six Thinking Hats technique is a structured approach to tackling problems from multiple perspectives. Developed by Dr. Edward de Bono, the technique prescribes that each ‘hat’ represents a different mode of thinking, and team members take on these roles (or wear these ‘hats’) to guide the decision.
Let’s look at what each hat entails. 🎩
1. Blue hat
The blue hat is about planning and leading the discussion.
The facilitator, usually a manager or leader, sets the agenda, defines the problem, and manages the flow of conversation. Their job is to ensure the correct sequence of thinking and summarize the key takeaways for decision-makers.
2. Green hat
The green hat encourages creative thinking.
Those wearing this hat come up with original ideas without worrying about feasibility. While not all ideas may be practical immediately, they can spark more workable solutions when explored further.
3. Red hat
The red hat represents emotions and intuition.
People in this role express their gut feelings about ideas or solutions without needing to justify them. It’s all about how they feel or react emotionally to a proposal.
4. Yellow hat
The yellow hat focuses on optimism and logic.
Thinkers here look for benefits and opportunities in proposed solutions. They help turn creative ideas into practical ones by examining them logically.
5. Black hat
The black hat is about critical thinking and spotting risks.
Those wearing it identify potential flaws in ideas, such as obstacles or weaknesses. They highlight what could go wrong and why.
6. White hat
The white hat is all about the facts.
People with this hat focus on gathering and sorting reliable data. They verify what’s accurate and look for information gaps to help guide the discussion.
Project managers must rotate these hats for teams to explore thoroughly and make more balanced, effective decisions.
Summarize this article for me pleaseHow to Use the Six Thinking Hats Technique in Meetings
Six Thinking Hats is an effective group decision-making technique that transforms how your team approaches problem-solving.
Here’s how to implement it step by step with ClickUp Meetings. 💁
Set the stage for the discussion
Start by clearly defining the issue or decision, ensuring everyone is on the same page.
Then, assign a facilitator to manage the discussion and guide the team through each hat’s perspective.
ClickUp Docs is an intuitive tool for creating a shared agenda before a meeting. You can also create a ‘Weekly team meeting’ document updated in advance, allowing your team to prepare effectively. Then, add an unlimited of sub Docs as a series to capture the agenda for each weekly meeting.
The ClickUp Agenda Template outlines goals, topics, and objectives and breaks down tasks and action items. It also lets you assign responsibilities between team members on the document.
You can create various formats, such as agendas, wikis, and knowledge bases, adapting the structure to fit any team’s needs. Docs’ real-time collaboration capabilities enable team members to edit together, tag each other, and add comments, which ensures everyone’s input is reflected in the agenda.
Plus, you can embed tasks, charts, and other views directly into the document to instantly share key project insights.
✨ Example: Your team is brainstorming marketing strategies for a product launch. The facilitator uses ClickUp Docs to create a shared agenda, outlining the meeting’s goals, topics, and expected outcomes. Team members add preliminary ideas, ensuring a structured start.
💡 Pro Tip: Consider starting your meetings with icebreakers or exercises to energize your employees. Beginning the conversation with engaging activities helps improve creativity and encourages innovation in the thinking process.
Introduce each hat and its purpose
Before assigning hats to team members, explain the purpose of each hat to ensure that everyone understands their role.
ClickUp Tasks offers a simple way to organize the Six Thinking Hats.
Start by creating a task list with each hat as its task. Add a short description to explain the role of each hat. For example, the task for the White Hat could say, ‘Focus on gathering facts and identifying gaps in information.’ This makes the purpose of each hat clear and easy to reference.
Once the tasks are ready, assign them to team members. You can match roles to individual strengths or mix it up to encourage new perspectives.
To keep things focused, include subtasks for each role. These could involve researching relevant information, brainstorming creative ideas, or listing risks and challenges.
Additionally, you can link Docs to these tasks to keep everything in one place.
✨ Example: During a product design meeting, the team assigns the Green Hat to their most creative thinker to generate innovative ideas, while the Black Hat goes to someone detail-oriented who excels at spotting flaws.
💡 Pro Tip: Start small by introducing one hat at a time to avoid overwhelming your team. Gradually rotate through the hats to help everyone get comfortable with different thinking perspectives.
Facilitate the discussion using the hats
Move through each hat systematically, allowing time for discussion from each perspective.
Edward De Bono recommends giving each participant one minute per hat so that everyone contributes. The facilitator should guide the group, focusing on the current hat.
It’s best to document the meeting as it goes.
ClickUp Whiteboards offer a dynamic way to visually represent discussions and create an idea board, fostering collaborative engagement.
As a virtual canvas, Whiteboards facilitate brainstorming, note-sharing, and concept visualization. It’s ideal for meetings where diverse perspectives must be synthesized.
Team members can easily sketch ideas, add shapes, and connect points visually, keeping everyone on the same page.
✨ Example: In a budget-planning session, the team uses the Yellow Hat to highlight opportunities for cost savings. These ideas are captured on a Whiteboard, visually linking optimistic insights and best-case scenarios to actionable plans. The Black Hat then evaluates potential risks, like exceeding the budget, which is also mapped out for clarity.
📖 Also Read: 16 Best Digital Whiteboard Software
Collect and organize feedback
To gather input, you can use many methods, such as surveys, real-time feedback tools, and post-meeting debriefs. Once collected, categorize and quantify the responses to identify trends and key insights.
Share a summary report with all attendees to promote transparency and open dialogue.
✨ Example: Team members provide feedback on their assigned tasks after discussing each hat. The facilitator uses Whiteboards to group similar ideas, identifying recurring themes like “expanding digital ads” or “investing in influencer partnerships.”
You can also take notes during the meeting or use Whiteboards to capture insights from each hat during the discussion. This helps foster idea generation and prepare for summarization later.
💡 Pro Tip: Use the Blue Hat (which manages the thinking process) to guide transitions between hats. The facilitator can ensure that discussions flow smoothly and that the right thinking mode is applied at the right time, keeping the process structured.
For effective feedback collection, leverage both ClickUp Assign Comments and Whiteboards. These tools enable real-time collaboration, making it easier for team members to share thoughts and provide detailed feedback.
Assign comments on Tasks encourage feedback, allowing team members to reply with their thoughts, ask questions, and tag others for additional input.
Similarly, Whiteboards help teams break down feedback more creatively. You can connect ideas and opinions to analyze the feedback deeply and determine what to apply.
Summarize and decide on the next steps
At the end of the discussion, the facilitator must summarize key points from each hat.
This summary will help the team make informed decisions and agree on the next steps or actions based on the collective input. Here, you can use ClickUp Brain to help summarize documents.
After the meeting, use ClickUp Task Checklists to create action items and assign specific responsibilities to your team members. You can break down large tasks into actionable items, assign responsibilities, and set deadlines, making it easy to track progress and ensure accountability.
Additionally, you can prioritize these tasks using drag-and-drop, facilitating efficient adjustments if priorities shift.
You can also nest sub-tasks within checklist items, ideal for complex assignments with multiple steps.
✨ Example: For a new product rollout, the facilitator summarizes the discussion: “We’ll test three ad strategies based on the Green Hat’s ideas, with detailed plans outlined by the Yellow Hat.” ClickUp Tasks are updated with due dates and assigned to marketing team members.
Follow-up and review
After the meeting, schedule a follow-up session to review progress on action items. This ensures accountability and supports continuous improvement in the decision-making process.
Next, use ClickUp Dashboards to synthesize insights and determine the next steps based on each hat’s feedback. This tool helps the team get a real-time summary of all gathered insights.
They can also assess actions taken under each creative hat and gauge the progress and effectiveness of decisions made.
With customizable widgets like task lists, charts, and performance indicators, Dashboards provide an organized visual format for tracking team tasks, status updates, and overall project momentum.
Conduct these reviews weekly or monthly, depending on your project’s requirements.
For this, you can use the ClickUp Calendar View. Look at all your tasks in a calendar format for a holistic view. What’s more, you can set reminders for follow-ups and review sessions so no deadline is missed.
⚙️ Bonus: Explore other mental models like the Eisenhower Matrix for prioritization or First Principles Thinking for tackling complex problems. Combining different models can give you a broader perspective and improve your decision-making.
Summarize this article for me pleaseBenefits of the Six Thinking Hats Technique
The Six Thinking Hats technique makes meetings more effective, focused, and enjoyable. It helps you rethink your approach to brainstorming. Let’s look at some of its other benefits. 👀
- Encourages lateral thinking: It creates an environment where everyone is encouraged to explore unconventional ideas and approach problems from fresh, creative angles
- Improves employee communication: With each team member taking on a specific role based on their ‘hat,’ everyone can voice their thoughts, reducing misunderstandings and making space for balanced input
- Enhances decision-making: It approaches the problem from various perspectives, allowing team members to contribute different insights, challenge new ideas, and add depth to discussions
- Reduces bias: Since the decision-making process doesn’t rely on the same perspective, it minimizes personal bias
- Boosts organizational growth: Strong, thoughtful decision-making styles lead to better use of time, resources, and productivity, driving both short-term success and long-term growth
Summarize this article for me pleaseCriticisms and Limitations of the Six Thinking Hats Technique
While the Six Thinking Hats method has been widely praised for fostering structured, creative discussions, it is not without its criticisms and limitations.
Let’s explore these in detail.
⚠️ Can become a time-consuming process
Using the Six Thinking Hats can become time-consuming, potentially leading to participant fatigue.
To prevent sessions from becoming too long and overwhelming, break the process into shorter segments, assigning each hat to a specific period and setting a strict time limit. Encourage facilitators to keep discussions concise, focusing only on the essential aspects of each perspective.
⚠️ Might put participants in a tough spot
Some participants may feel awkward using hats that conflict with their natural thinking styles. You can help them feel more at ease by providing guidance on each hat’s role before the session and offering examples of applying each perspective.
ClickUp Tasks allow participants to choose the hats they feel most comfortable with initially, then rotate roles to introduce them to unfamiliar perspectives gradually.
⚠️ Some individuals may dominate discussions
Individuals may also misuse the method to dominate discussions, stifling team collaboration. For this, a facilitator can mediate the discussion, acknowledging each participant’s input, reducing the likelihood of misuse, and fostering a balanced approach.
⚠️ Might lack technical insights
The method may overlook technical insights in situations that require deep expertise.
In scenarios that require technical or specialized knowledge, bring in subject-matter experts to contribute additional insights.
ClickUp helps by allowing you to assign tasks to subject-matter experts, add expert insights directly in comments or tasks, and integrate with other tools like Google Calendar or Zoom for real-time collaboration.
Summarize this article for me please‘Meet’ Your Expectations with ClickUp
The Six Thinking Hats technique offers a structured, dynamic approach to problem-solving and decision-making. Dividing thinking into six metaphorical hats ensures every angle is explored and ideas are fully developed.
The best part? The Six Thinking Hats technique embodies parallel thinking, with a framework that allows everyone to simultaneously focus on a specific aspect of the problem for a more collaborative thought process.
Integrating this method with ClickUp makes managing different perspectives easier. You can organize tasks, set deadlines, and track progress all in one place.
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