Too often people assume wrongly that they’re under stood. Or they don’t feel heard at all. Now there's a way for people to express themselves fully and listen deeply. You can create dynamic, results-oriented meetings that people want to attend by training your team to use Edward DeBono’s Six Thinking Hats®.
Your team will learn to separate emotions from facts, explore the drawbacks and the benefits of an idea, and separate creative thinking from critical thinking. “So what?” you might ask. Studies have shown that individuals and teams trained in the Six Hats method experience a five-fold increase in the quantity and quality of their thinking and reduce meeting times by fifty percent. This fast-paced, intense and interactive approach to facilitation asks team members to mentally wear and switch symbolic “hats,” separating thinking into six categories for analyzing matters objectively and comprehensively.
Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future. — J.F. Kennedy
Teams learn how to:
View and solve problems from new and unusual angles
Go beyond the obvious to discover effective alternative solutions
Spot opportunities where others see only problems
Stimulate innovation
Generate quality ideas faster
Think clearly and objectively
Look at problems, decisions, and opportunities systematically
When used as a meeting management tool, the Six Thinking Hats method forces individuals to be focused and to-the-point, and it requires each individual to look at all sides of an issue. Employees like the way the Six Hats method neutralizes employee rank in a meeting. It also puts people who are quiet and reserved on a level playing field with those who are tend to speak up or monopolize a meeting.
The Six Thinking Hats method has many specific uses:
Creativity Training
Meeting Facilitation
Team Productivity
Problem-Solving
Decision-Making
The Six Metaphorical Hats
The White Hat calls for information known or needed.
The Yellow Hat looks for benefits, values and reasons for brightness and optimism.
The Black Hat looks for faults, problems, dangers, or why something may not work.
The Red Hat signifies feelings, hunches, and intuition.
The Green Hat searches for creative alternatives, new ideas and possible solutions.
The Blue Hat is used to manage the thinking process and helps you summarize and stay organized.
We want to know the unique facilitation challenges that your group faces, so give us a call for a complimentary consultation. For additional information on Six Thinking Hats or to schedule an in-house training course with our certified trainer call us at 607-277-4273.
