6 Thinking hats - Implementation at your WorkPlace

"An idea can change your life", is the famous slogan used by a Mobile service Provider. Why, What, where, when, who and how you plan and implement your idea will change your destiny.

I read this story which reiterates that an "IDEA" can definitely change your life!!  Read on -

Ram Dass a farmer was planning to plough his field. He realized that his plough was broken. He thought of borrowing a plough from his good neighbour  farmer Shyam who stayed 3 farms away.

 As he crossed the 1st farm, he thought- "I know, I'll ask my neighbour, farmer Shyam, to borrow his plough. He's a good man; I'm sure he'll have done his ploughing by now and he'll be glad to lend me his machine."

Then after a few more minutes of worrying and walking, Ram Dass says to himself, "And what if Shyam's plough is old and broken - he'll never lend it to me will he?.."

And after another field, Ram Dass thought, "Shyam was never a very helpful fellow, maybe he won't be too keen to lend me his plough even if it's in perfect working condition and he's finished all his own ploughing weeks ago...."

As Ram Dass arrives at Shyam's farm, he contineus in the same trend and thinks, "That old Shyam can be a mean old fellow. I know even if he's got all his ploughing done, and his own machine is sitting there doing nothing, he'll not lend it to me just so watch me go to ruin..."

Ram Dass walks up the Shyam's front porch, knocks on the door, and  Shyam answers.

"Namaste Ram Dass ji, what can I do for you?" says Shyam.

And Ram Dass says, with eyes bulging, "You can take your useless  plough, and you hang it in your drawing room.

In this story Ram Dass was habitual in thinking in a particular  style. The trend is obvious in other places as well.

Engineers are known for their analytical and logical thought process. A Marketing man always thinks creatively and comes out with a new idea.  An operations person will be aware of the pitfalls and play the devils advocate.   A lawyer will have all the facts and figures with him. A service / Customer service personnel will be thinking of the benefits for the customer.  Army men are known for their strong administrative skills and ability to follow timelines.

The point I wish to bring is that there are multiple thinking styles. The human mind can be trained to think in more than one way.

Lateral thinking or Parallel thinking gives a rounded view of the situation. There are primarily 6 thinking styles.

Each style is a like a slice of a pie. If you eat only 1 slice you miss the balance points.. Edward De Bono calls them the 6  thinking hats. The white hat, the blue hat, the yellow hat, the green hat, red hat and  black hat. Each  colour signifies a thinking style.

We scout for facts and figures when we look for a career, marriage, house, investment, shopping, movie, restaurant, vacation  etc, this is the white  hat.  White  hat signifies facts and figures,
People in supervisory roles, Toastmaster of the day, Timer, parents, teachers, bosses, employers want the  things done. They process,  control and monitor. The blue hat, Blue is the control and monitoring,

Yellow is like the sunshine and benefits, Cost saving, convenience, comfort, efficiency  and effectiveness. Which route to take, mode of transport, topic of speech, motorcycle, vehicle, 
Green is growth, nature i.e. alternatives, The problem Solver, the Optimists, Positive thinking people


People who take decisions based on emotion anger, anxiety, insult, jealousy, respect EGO  use the red fire hat. Which signifies  anger emotions.

Black is deadlock and devils advocate, pitfalls.  The pessimist The cyclical use of the 6 thinking hats leads to a logical decision with a mutual win win feeling of the stakeholders.

The 6 thinking hats have been successfully used in situations when ever there is a deadlock in  meetings, incomplete thinking, open ended communication, conflict resolution, problem solving and  decision making.

They force us to move out of our regular thinking pattern in a safe constructive manner. It has been successfully used in adult and child education in Europe and America.


In the war struck  Cambodia   where the civilians had lived in fear of death  this model is used  for community welfare.

 In a newly acquired  company the management of both the companies were not able to see eye to eye in a strategic meeting. The CEO decided to use 6 thinking hats and an email was sent to both the parties informing the agenda for the meeting and to come prepared with the facts and figures only. White hats. The meeting finished an hour and both parties agreed to a common pool of Data.

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