Tools for Parallel Thinking ® “From debating what is… To designing what can be”

Welcome! Creativity is not just a ‘Buzz’ word Highlights on how to bring creativity into everyday life using Edward de Bono’s Thinking Tools Facilitated by Donald Pace

Introductions …  In Teams, briefly introduce yourselves stating your Name, background and interests related to this training …

The Originator – Edward de Bono  World’s leading authority in creative and conceptual thinking  M.D., Ph.D., Rhodes Scholar  Author of over 80 books with translations into more than 40 languages  World renowned consultant to business, government and education  More than 500,000 people have been trained in this method

Session Objectives  Overview of the Six Thinking Hats ® framework.  Learn to use each of the Six Hats.  Practice focused Parallel Thinking ®.  Sample Lateral Thinking tools.

Traditional Thinking - Individually  Describe your current style of thinking.  What are your thinking strengths?  What are your thinking weaknesses?  How is it working for you?  Where do you do your best thinking?

Traditional Thinking - Group  In your group, do some thinking around this topic. -Focus: Marriage is a renewable five-year contract

Traditional Thinking—Group  Where did you focus your thinking?  What thinking behaviors did you observe in your group?

Traditional Thinking  The History of Thinking  The Fall of the Roman Empire (476 A.D.)  The Gang of Three ( B.C.)  Who Followed Their Philosophy?

Six Thinking Hats What are the benefits of the Six Thinking Hats?  Separate out thinking so we can do one thing at a time  Ask people to switch thinking from one mode to another  Separate ego from performance

Six Thinking Hats What are the benefits of the Six Thinking Hats?  Signal what thinking process to use next  Expand from one-dimensional to full-colored thinking  Explore subjects in parallel  Allow specific time for creativity

Parallel Thinking What is Parallel Thinking?  Getting everyone focused on using the same thinking tool at the same time  Encourages the sharing of information

Parallel Thinking What is Parallel Thinking?  Prompts a group to pool all of their ideas rather than defending one point of view From Adversarial To Parallel

Introduction The Hats Concept  Six Hats  A Powerful Thinking Tool  Not Categories  Why Hats?

Six Thinking Hats White Hat Information Available and Needed Red Hat Intuition and Feelings Blue Hat Managing the Thinking Process Black Hat Caution, Difficulties and Weaknesses Yellow Hat Benefits and Value Green Hat Alternatives and Creative Ideas

Blue Hat Managing the Thinking  “Control” hat  Organizes the thinking  Sets the focus and agenda  Summarizes and concludes  Ensures that the rules are observed

White Hat Information  Information we know  Information we need  How we are going to get that information  Determines accuracy and relevance  Looks at Other People’s Views (O.P.V.)

Red Hat Feelings, Intuition, Gut Instinct  Permission to express feelings  No need to justify  Represents feelings right now  Keep it short  A key ingredient to decision making

Yellow Hat Benefits and Feasibility  The optimistic view  Reasons must be given  Needs more effort than the black hat  Finds the benefits and values  Considers both short- and long-term perspectives

Black Hat Risks, Difficulties and Problems  The skeptical view  Reasons must be given  Points out thinking that does not fit the facts, experience, regulations, strategy, values  Points out potential problems

Green Hat New Ideas, Possibilities  Creative thinking  Seeks alternatives and possibilities  Removes faults  Doesn’t have to be logical  Generates new concepts

Introduction Using the Hats We all use each of the Six Hats daily, but individuals tend to have default hats they use more often.  Which two hats do you feel most comfortable using? - Hat 1: - Hat 2:

Introduction Using the Hats (cont.)  Which two hats dominate the thinking in your team/organization? - Hat 1: - Hat 2:  What impact does this have on your team’s effectiveness?

Individual Use The Benefits  Creates a road map for your own thinking  Provides discipline to get organized  Prompts thinking in preparation for a meeting

Conversational Use The Benefits  Creates structure in important conversations  Allows all sides to be heard  Helps move easily to a different type of thinking when stuck in a conversational rut

Meeting Use Productive, more focused meetings save time and money!  A weekly 2 hour meeting with 5 managers averaging a $70,000 US salary costs the company $20,000 per year  How many meetings are you in each week?

Meeting Use The Benefits of Meeting Use  Provides a roadmap for a thinking agenda  Promotes robust, full-colored thinking  Reduces meeting time by up to 50%  Ensures all meeting attendees participate  Promotes teamwork and respect for the individual

An Introduction

“The brain is a self organizing system that routinely falls into patterns.” --Edward de Bono

Looking for alternatives is one of the most basic operations of Lateral Thinking. Setting out to find them depends on the belief that there is another, better way of doing things.

 Learn how to extract concepts and use them to breed ideas  Double the number of ideas generated Concept Extraction

Formal Tools for Creativity Concept Extraction  Create your focus  Generate ideas  Extract concepts  Create alternative ideas

IdeasConceptsAlternative Ideas Increase PayIncentivesTime and a half for overtime Friday happy hourFunCompany sports team Fitness memberships Life balanceEvery 4 th Friday off 4-Day work weekFlexible schedulesJob sharing, work from home Focus: How to improve staff morale Concept Extraction

Formal Tools for Creativity Random Word Used to generate unique ideas. Great for product development and grass roots thinking. -Select a number and work with the corresponding word from the list. -Place the random word underneath the subject. -See where the random word leads your thoughts.

Focus: Design a new restaurant Random Word: Ideas Random Word

Tools for Parallel Thinking ® Thank you! Hope you enjoyed that...