Six Hats Model – Manage Your Team’s Mentality in Brainstorms
In brainstorms, it's essential to have a diverse group of thinkers to challenge each other and refine ideas. However, different personalities can lead to varying mentalities, which, if not aligned, can derail a session. In Edward de Bono’s book Six Thinking Hats, he introduces the concept of parallel thinking—a technique where members of a brainstorming group think in the same direction at the same time.
The Six Hats approach highlights six ways to manage the mentality of the group. During each stage of the meeting, the team wears a specific hat: the white hat for information, the red hat for emotion, the black hat for caution, the yellow hat for positivity, and the green hat for creativity.
Blue Hat
The blue hat is reserved for the facilitator or leader. Their job is to ensure each team member knows which hat they should be wearing at any given time and to hold members accountable for not switching hats at the wrong time.
White Hat
When wearing the white hat, group members offer important information. This can often come in the form of a brief but could also include valuable context that could affect the solution.
Red Hat
When wearing the red hat, participants evaluate an idea based on their emotions—excited, nervous, or intrigued, for example. The leader lists these emotions as they're shared. Addressing emotions first helps people make better decisions instead of hiding them behind rational arguments.
Yellow Hat
The yellow hat represents positivity. It gives people the chance to explore the kinds of outcomes they’d like to see. It’s the hat of creative wishing.
Black Hat
The black hat asks, "What’s wrong with this idea? What are the consequences if it goes wrong?" Black-hatting is often the reason this whole model was built; it comes naturally to us and has the power to kill an idea instantly. If left unchecked, negative feedback can quickly leave people feeling uninspired. But if managed transparently, it can improve an idea and prepare the team for potential issues.
Green Hat
Finally, the green hat is the hat of creativity. In this space, only fresh, positive ideas are allowed. This is the time to build upon ideas and watch them flourish.
If you find that your brainstorms are often a clash of differing mentalities, use this model to facilitate and align the way people think. Your ideas and teamwork should improve considerably.