A
Reflection on the 6 Thinking Hats using the 6 Thinking Hats
Some years ago I attended a
lecture given by Edward de Bono on the recommendation of a lecturer who was
teaching on a course I was attending.
The lecturer had been to several de Bono lectures (I understand that
each lecture is exactly the same in content) and suggested that we might find
them useful. Though I enjoyed the lecture and could see the benefits of the
process I didn’t implement it in my professional role.
The focus of the lecture
was creative thinking and whilst the lecture referred to the process for using
the hats it didn’t dwell on them in great detail.
As a process the 6 thinking
hats encourages an individual to look at an issue from all perspectives. When used by a team it helps the team to
focus on individual aspects of an issue in a systematic way allowing the team
to make decisions and reduce the amount of time wasted. It can be used to reduce conflict by
requesting the team to move away from black or red thinking and focus on yellow
or green thinking.
The 6
thinking hats may not work in certain cultural settings. It could also be argued that as variety is
the spice of life and there shouldn’t be an over reliance on one particular
model for problem solving. From my own
perspective I found it difficult as an individual to explain the concept to my
colleagues. So although I tried to use
the process to direct meetings I never felt it worked. I think it’s a concept that requires a number
of people to drive it in order for it to be implemented.
I feel that it is an effective method of problem solving and I was disappointed that managers couldn’t see the value of it.
It was interesting to see the process adapted to teaching particular topics during our instructional design module. It could also be used to help with reflective writing as it encourages the individual to stand back and view an experience from all perspectives.
Damien’s lecture has renewed my interest in the 6 thinking hats. It’s logical and systematic approach appeals to me as a way to focus my thoughts when planning topics for training and as a reflective writing process. I’m not sure that this is reflected particularly well in this piece of reflective writing but I intend to continue with it and see how it develops
