Six Thinking Hats
The following are exerpts from the Preface and Introduction of the book Six Thinking Hats by Edward De Bono
Preface
Thinking is an ultimate human resource. Yet we can never be satisfied with our most important skill. No matter how good we become, we should always want to be better. Usually, the only people who are satisfied with their thinking skill are those poor thinkers who believe that the purpose of thinking is to prove yourself right – to your own satisfaction. If we have only a limited view of what thinking can do, we may be smug about our excellence in this area, but not otherwise.
The main difficulty of thinking is confusion. We try to do too much at once. Emotions, information, logic, hope and creativity all crowd in on us. It is like juggling with too many balls.
What I am putting forward in this book is a very simple concept which allows a thinker to do one thing at a time. He or she becomes able to separate emotion from logic, creativity from information, and so on. The concept is that of the six thinking hats. Put on any one of these hats defines a certain type of thinking. In the book I describe the nature and contribution of each type of thinking.
The six thinking hats allow us to conduct our thinking as a conductor might lead an orchestra. We can call forth what we will. Similarly, in an y meeting it is very useful to switch people out of their usual track in order to get them to think differently about the matter at hand.Introduction
Argument vs. Parallel Thinking
At each moment each person looks in parallel from the same point of view (house example).
In traditional thinking, if two people disagree, there is an argument in which each tries to prove the other party wrong. In parallel thinking, both views, no matter how contradictory, are put down in parallel. If, later on, it is essential to choose between the differing positions, then an attempt to choose is made at that point. If a choice cannot be made, then the design has to cover both possibilities.
At all times the emphasis is on designing a way forward.
Directions and Hats
The essence of parallel thinking is that at any moment everyone is looking in the same direction – but the direction can be changed.
With parallel thinking, every thinker at every moment is looking in the same direction.
The Six Hats method provides neutral and objective exploration of a subject – argument does not.