Which Hat Should I Wear?

Which Hat Should I Wear?

Using the Six Thinking Hats Decision Making Model

Which Hat Should I Wear? Using the Six Thinking Hats Decision Making Model

We make a variety of decisions every day that affect both our personal and professional life. These decisions can have differing impact. Common examples include what to wear, deciding where to eat, how we will get to work, how to send money or making important business decisions. According to Wikipedia (n.d.) decision making is defined as "the cognitive process of selecting a course of action from among multiple alternatives." To help managers make the better decisions there are several decision making models that they can utilize.

Six Thinking Hats

The six thinking hat method of decision making is a process for exploring different perspectives. The model developed by Edward de Bono is a way to explore different perspectives, roles and context towards a complex problem. de Bono's six thinking hat are meant to explore not only different perspectives, but also the emotional state. de Bono states "Emotions are an essential part of our thinking ability and not just something extra that mucks up our thinking." (Six Thinking Hats: The Emotional Decision Model, 2005). All hats have equal consideration, considering all perspectives provides for equal reflection on all possibilities.

Each thinking hat is a color and represents a different style of thinking. The white hat focuses on the data available. This thinking style analyses past trends, looks at the information that is available and determines the need of any other information. The red hat represents emotions. When wearing the red hat, the individual tries to understand how people will react emotionally to the decision. The role of the black hat is that of playing devil's advocate. Look at the possible solutions and determining why they might not work. The black hat is one of the most beneficial aspects of the thinking hat model. The black hat thinking makes the plan stronger, because possible problems are detected in advance and contingency plans can be developed. The yellow hat helps everyone to stay positive. Yellow thinking shows the positive benefits of the decision. Green stands for creativity. While wearing the green hat any idea is a possibility and there is little disapproval. Process control belongs to the blue hat. The individual chairing the meeting is responsible for directing the flow of the decision process (Exploring Different, 2005).

Six Thinking Hats is a method for evaluating