6 Hats Can Yield Better Innovation Results Than Brainstorming

The other day I attended an evening workshop at St Louis University on innovation. The presenter was Jonathan Weaver, University of Detroit Mercy Mechanical Engineering Department. His remarks were focused on ideation and all the techniques available for teams, and there a many! Each one has a place and purpose. 16 examples below:

Biomimicry Painstorming Functional Decomposition Axiomatic Design TRIZ Lateral Benchmarking De Bono’s Six Hats De Bono’s Concept Fans

Bisociation Blue Ocean Strategy Nine Windows The Search for the Problem Kano Model De Bono’s Provocation Trimming Brainstorming

One in particular caught my attention- De Bono’s 6 hats http://www.edwdebono.com/. In the past, I avoided using the technique thinking it’s too involved and complex or no one would want to participate. It’s not and they will!

The goal of 6 hats to design a way forward taking advantage of the team’s different perspectives and various approaches. I am certain you have heard “lets put on our thinking caps”. The approach involves having the entire team consider the opportunity from a common perspective represented by a specific hat. Six perspectives - six hats.

Another way to look at it-rather than arguing over who is on the right (or wrong) path to a solution, the team is working together to build on each other’s view of the situation (parallel thinking).

The 6 different hats:

White: The information hat – focus on the data, trends.

Red: The emotion hat- gut reaction, intuition, how would others react?

Black: The caution hat- think about the bad things, think defensively.

Yellow: The optimism hat – visualize the benefits and value of the decision.

Green: The creativity hat – use the creativity tools, free-wheeling, little criticism.

Blue: The procedure hat – process control, meeting lead might use the blue hat to move the meeting by referring to another hat.

An interesting approach to using the 6 hats is to just use it without much fanfare. Think about past meeting agendas or team plans. They typically begin (or should) with evaluating the facts (White Hat). Can you see how your agenda or plan can follow the 6 hats without even using the term?

Summarizing-

• The Six Hats method allows teams to take things ‘one at a time’ thereby removing confusion.

• All team members remain on the “same page,”dealing with pure information, expressed emotions, unleashed creativity, hopeful optimism and non-threatening criticism, all with personal sensitivity and process rigor.

• Hats de-personalize discussions and encourage all team members to build each other up, rather than argue debate and tear down.

• A careful mix and sequential use of the hats ensures a thorough exploration of the design space and makes the end route obvious.

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