1. thinking hats Six of Prepared by Eman A. Al Abdullah ©
Eman Al Abdullah 2007

2. Six hats of thinking : a way of helping us
to think more effectively about problems and situations.
Not real hats, but idea invented by Edward De Bono,
expert on management and psychology.
De Bono noticed that meetings often waste time with arguments:
people take a certain opinion or position, and defend them to the death.
Others criticize and discussion goes nowhere.
E.g. someone suggests a new idea, and others say it’s impossible.
Eman Al Abdullah 2007

3. The 6 hats = way of making discussions more constructive and useful.
In a normal meeting, if someone doesn’t support an idea it is easy for them not to look for positive sides - 6 hats technique challenges participants to see all sides.
Some people see the negative side of everything;
the 6 hats technique offers them the opportunity to think like this, but challenges them to think in other ways as well.
The six hats represent six modes of thinking and are directions to think rather than labels for thinking .
Eman Al Abdullah 2007

4. new ideas information cautions benefits feelings overview
Eman Al Abdullah 2007

5. While wearing the white hat we ignore arguments and proposals :
We examine the facts , figures and information that we have
We identify:
what information we don’t have ,
and how we might get it .
“I think we need a white hat thinking at this point … “*
Means : Let’s drop the arguments and proposals , and look at the data base .
Eman Al Abdullah 2007

6. What questions can we ask while wearing the white hat ?
* What information do we have here ?
* What information is missing ?
* What information would we like to have ?
* How are we going to get the information ?
Eman Al Abdullah 2007

7. creativity , alternatives and proposals .
This is the hat of
creativity , alternatives and proposals .
It develops creative solutions to a problem .
It is a free wheeling way of thinking .
Give us time to create new ideas without criticizing .
Eman Al Abdullah 2007

8. What questions can we ask while wearing the green hat ?
* Are there any alternatives
which we haven’t thought about ?
* Could we do this in a different way ?
* Could there be another explanation ?
Eman Al Abdullah 2007

9. The yellow hat helps you to think positively .
It helps you to keep going when
everything looks gloomy and difficult .
This is the logical positive .
Why something will work and why it will offer benefits .
Look for benefits in what we have achieved ,
or possible benefits in what we are planning
– but they must be based on logic .
Eman Al Abdullah 2007

10. What can we say while wearing the yellow hat ? * That might work if we
changed the arrangements of the desks .
* If we are to pay for each and every destroyed thing in the classroom,
everyone would be more careful .
Eman Al Abdullah 2007

11. When you wear the black hat
you look at all the bad points of the decision.
Look at it cautiously and defensively .
The black hat is the most used one,
and perhaps the most valuable one,
because mistakes can be disastrous .
At the same time , it is very easy to overuse the black hat:
It is easy to kill creative ideas by being negative too early.
Black hat must always be logical ( must explain why )
Eman Al Abdullah 2007

12. What can we say while wearing the black hat ?
* The regulations do not allow us to do that .
* We do not have enough teachers to do that .
* When we tried harder exams
pupils failed to pass them .
* This teacher has no experience in the field .
Eman Al Abdullah 2007

13. The red hat gives full permission to a thinker
to put forward his or her feelings on the subject at the moment .
Try to think how other people will react emotionally .
Try to understand the responses of people
who do not fully know your reasoning .
Red hat thinking lets people put forward their feelings
without the need to apologize, explain them or try
to justify them !
Eman Al Abdullah 2007

14. What can we say while wearing the red hat ?
* This is what I feel about the test .
* My feeling is that it will not work .
* I don’t like the way this is being done .
* My intuition tells me that pupils will not like it .
Eman Al Abdullah 2007

15. The blue hat is the thinking overview or process control hat .
It looks not at the subject itself but at the thinking about the subject.
It is suggesting next step for thinking .
Asking for summaries , conclusions and decisions .
Eman Al Abdullah 2007

16. What can we say while wearing the blue hat ?
* We have spent far
too much time looking for someone to blame
* Could we have a summary of your views ?
* I think we should take a look at the priorities .
* I suggest we try some green hat thinking
to get some new ideas .
Eman Al Abdullah 2007

17. to think productively about a particular question or issue .
Some times it is possible to put together a sequence of hats that will help us
to think productively about a particular question or issue .
The actual order will depend on the situation , but might be :
For a new problem :
White – to get information .
Green – for ideas and proposals .
For each alternative:
Yellow followed by black –
to evaluate alternatives .
Red – To assess feelings at this point .
Blue – to decide what thinking to do next .
Eman Al Abdullah 2007

18. We can use the Six Hats of Thinking in almost any problem solving activity
that you might encounter in the classroom
( or in life in general ! )
Students talking while others are talking or teaching .
State the facts .
- Students are talking when the teacher is talking .
- There is noise that others are distracted or can’t hear .
- Students don’t know what to do after the teacher has given directions.
Eman Al Abdullah 2007

19. Positives of the situation are examined .
State the emotions .
- The teacher feels offended.
- Students are frustrated because they can’t hear directions .
Negative aspects .
- Time is wasted .
- Chaos in the classroom .
Positives of the situation are examined .
- Everyone gets to say what is in their mind .
- It can be fun .
- Not just the “ smart “ kids get to speak.
Eman Al Abdullah 2007

20. Creative ideas that come with seeing the problem in a new light .
-The teacher will be more aware
of the amount of time that she/ he “ talks “ .
- Students will think about whether their comment
will interfere with other people’s learning.
Sum up what is learned.
- The teacher needs to involve all students in discussion.
- The teacher needs to realize that some students need “ think time “
before they are ready to contribute to a discussion.
-Students now realize that when they talk when others are talking
it makes the person talking feel like a fool or unappreciated.
Eman Al Abdullah 2007

21. This putting on and taking off is essential.
There are six metaphorical hats and the thinker can put on or take off one of these hats to indicate the type of thinking
being used .
This putting on and taking off is essential.
The hats must never be used to categorize individuals , even though their behavior may seem to invite this. When done in group, everybody wear the same hat at the same time .
Eman Al Abdullah 2007

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24. Thanks
for coming
and participating .
Eman Al Abdullah 2007