2. Six Thinking hats Why use it? –encourages full spectrum thinking –separates ego from performance –encourages innovation and creativity –Improves teamwork –Solves problems faster –Implements change Developed by: Edward de Bono Used by the following companies: Prudential Insurance, IBM, DuPont, FedEx, Polaroid, & Pepsico

3. White Hat Encourages facts, figures, data, gaps Ask these questions:...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?

4. Red hat Covers intuition, feeling, hunches,& emotion Possible dialog:... Putting on my red hat, this is what I feel about the project....My gut-feeling is that it will not work....I don't like the way this is being done....My intuition tells me that prices will fall soon.

5. Black hat Covers judgment and caution, prevents silly mistakes Possible dialog:... Why something won’t fit the facts... The regulations do not permit us to do that....We do not have the production capacity to meet that order....When we tried a higher price the sales fell off....He has no experience in export management.

6. Yellow hat Think of sunshine: logical positive view, optimism, feasibility Possible dialog:... Why something will work.... What benefits it will offer.... This might work if we moved the production plant nearer to the customers....The benefit would come from repeat purchases....The high cost of energy would make everyone more energy efficient.

7. Green hat Think of rich growth: creative thinking, alternatives, what is interesting, changes, new ideas Possible dialog:... We need some new ideas here....Are there any additional alternatives?...Could we do this in a different way?...Could there be another explanation?

8. Blue hat Think of the sky and overview: sets the agenda, summarizes, asks for other hats, thinks about “thinking”, conclusions, decisions... 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.