Six Thinking Hats

by Sandi Spivey, People Capability Coach, Taco Bell Corporation, and a member of the Council of Hotel and Restaurant Trainers (CHART)

Although your job might be easier if everyone thought like you, the truth is that most creative ideas—and the best teamwork—are actually the result of different types of thinking. The "Six Thinking Hats" system, created by Edward de Bono, clearly defines each of these thinking styles—and demonstrates how, when we use each style at the appropriate time, they can work together to create more innovative solutions than we ever thought possible.

The "Six Thinking Hats" system is not a personality profiling tool. The idea is not to identify or assign a particular style of thinking, but for everyone to put on each "hat" at the same time: to respond emotionally, to generate ideas, to troubleshoot, to problem-solve, to analyze, to organize. When you do this, and recognize that some members of the group will always be operating under a hat that doesn't come naturally, you can begin to solve problems as a team.

Consider the following example:

The district manager and her seven restaurant managers are figuring out how they can get more employees interested in growing into shift supervisor roles in the company. They decide to use the Six Thinking Hats method during a meeting.

Wearing White Hats, they analyze the data they have. They look at how many people have been internally promoted, how many people are in training for the next job, and how many people have expressed an interest in promotion. They also look at turnover for the supervisor position and how many open positions they could have over the next 12 months. They also figure out how long it takes to train an internally promoted supervisor.

When they switch to Red Hats, they talk about how they feel emotionally about the information. How would they feel if they took no action and things continued the way they are going? How would they feel if they had a trained person ready for any supervisor opening they might have in the future? How would they feel if their teams were excited about building a career with the company?

With Black Hats on, they examine all potential bad points of a decision. They notice weak points in order to eliminate them. They worry that people will ask for too much money, there won't be much interest, and they will be wasting their time.

Yellow Hats, however, make our planners see the bright side: What would make this a win for the employees? What kinds of life-skills will the employees learn that could boost their careers, even if they end up working outside of the restaurant industry?

With Green Hats, creative thinking emerges. They consider all the options for increasing interest in the supervisor job. They also look at ways they can make the message fun and engaging.

Throughout this process, the Blue Hat has been used by the district manager to move between the different thinking styles. She may have needed to keep other members of the team from switching styles, or from criticizing other peoples' points.

So...how will they move forward in getting more internally promoted supervisors? It's hard to say. But one thing is certain: Whatever plan they agree to, it will be sounder and more resilient than one developed another way. That's the magic of the Six Thinking Hats.