A Tried-and-Tested Method to Get The Ideas Flowing!

In 1985, renowned scholar Edward de Bono came up with a parallel thinking method that made creative thinking simple and systematic. Parallel thinking involves focusing on different aspects of a subject and once all aspects have been laid out, it will be used to design the final product/decision.

He called it The Six Thinking Hats, which involves a set of imaginary hats of different colours that focuses on one aspect of the subject at hand. Here’s how it works.

White
The White Hat seeks the facts and nothing but the facts. When you’ve got this hat on, look for the facts of the subject whether they’re good or bad.
The article about The Six Thinking Hats has to be informative and educational, and cannot be boring or too long.

Red
When The Red Hat is on, we are to focus on feelings, hunches and intuitions. How does the subject at hand make you feel?
I feel that writing it all done is going to be challenging and difficult and not many people will benefit from it.

Green
The Green Hat implores you to bring out your creative side. Any alternatives, possibilities and new ideas are encouraged.
Instead of writing an article, maybe I can make a video about The Six Thinking Hats instead!

Yellow
Under this hat, explore the positives and benefits of the subject at hand. Every idea that comes out of this hat must always be positive.
I love the idea of recording a video instead of an article! Audio visuals are much easier to understand than written words.

Black
The Black Hat acts as the opposite of the Yellow Hat and is also known as The Devil’s Advocate. The purpose of this hat is to think of ideas on why an idea will not work.
Yeah making a video is nice and all but you can’t do it alone, it’s just too much work.

Blue
The final hat of the order is the Blue Hat, which acts as a manager for the whole thinking process. The Blue Hat’s job is to further encourage the thinking process and design the final product using the information gathered.
After gathering all the information at hand, we’re going to make a video about the Six Thinking Hats.

See how it works? Try it the next time you’re stumped!