Six Thinking Hats -- Book Review

"Thinking:the talking of the soul with itself" -- Plato

Is there a why to the books we choose to read? What prompts someone to pick, read and most importantly complete reading a book? Even though I got Edward de Bono's 'Six Thinking Hats' couple of years back, I could not go past the first few chapters. One of the main reasons was the explanations for the 'Six' thinking hats that was given upfront was too less and it did not pique my interest. So, how did I complete the book the 2nd time around? The main reason is that Dr.Murli gave a small but beautiful presentation on the 'Six Thinking Hats'. The information, though succinct, was powerful enough to propel till the completion line this time. Now going back to the question that was raised in the first line, the answer could be the subject under discussion itself and the narrative of the book are the primary motivators. 

Edward de Bono discusses the traditional western thinking approach of arguments and discussions as being flawed as it only allows people to take stands & of viewing only one side of the argument. Then he goes on to introduce the concept of ‘Parallel Thinking’. The example of everyone going together around a country house and seeing the same side is vivid & explains the concept of parallel thinking very clearly. The Six thinking hats method allows each one of the participant in a discussion to look at various perspectives ‘together’. The key concept to be understood is that of looking at the topic from the same point of view instead of each one taking a certain stand. This way, various faculties of the brain would get activated instead of just the critical thinking aspect of it. Given below is a gist for the thinking hats and their meaning:

White: Like a computer screen, this hat is to be used for presenting data & information regarding the topic under discussion. Opinions of others are also allowed to be presented under this hat.

Red: Think of the heart, the primary organ we associate with feelings. Red color is for expressing the feelings one has about a point. The advantage of wearing this hat is that there is no need for someone to justify their feelings.

Black: As a lawyer would do, the wearer of the black hat is expected to contradict and find holes in the points brought forward for discussion. Identifying the negatives, risks of a venture are the primary tasks when wearing a black hat.

Yellow: The yellow light of the sun cheers up the whole world and gives a positive outlook to all things under it. Yellow hat is for bringing out the positives of the item under consideration.

Green: A well nurtured seedling, with proper care, grows into a big green tree. Ideas are those seedlings that need to be protected. In the case of green hat thinking creating and nurturing those ideas are the primary purpose. Wacky, out of the box ideas are acceptable. Actually, those are the kind of ideas which are expected from green hat thinking.

Additional notes on Green Hat Thinking: This is the hat where Edward de Bono introduces the readers to ‘Lateral Thinking’. This concept combined with ‘Provocative Operation (PO)’ is just brilliant and would definitely pique one’s interest to learn more about lateral & creative thinking.

Blue: The blue sky spans across the globe and provides the overview. The blue hat is used to think about the thinking. It is also this hat that summarizes the thinking and if needed, creates another thinking topic. 

Bottom Line: Being new to the 'process of thinking', this book definitely provided a good starting point for me to start my travel about creative & lateral thinking. The flip side of this book is the blurred distinction between some of the hats. However, the author itself acknowledges this and this is something one should remember while reading this book. A definite read.