What is Six Thinking Hats?
Six Thinking Hats is a structured discussion method that asks a group to examine one issue through six modes: facts, feelings, caution, benefits, possibilities, and process. The hats are temporary thinking roles, not personality types.
When to use it
Use it when a group needs to examine a decision from multiple perspectives instead of defaulting to one way of thinking.
How the methodology works
Use six different thinking modes (White-facts, Red-emotions, Black-caution, Yellow-optimism, Green-creativity, Blue-process) to explore all angles of a decision.
- Choose a specific decision or problem and agree that participants will use the same thinking mode at a time.
- Move through the perspectives: White for information, Red for feelings, Black for risks, Yellow for benefits, Green for alternatives, and Blue for process.
- Summarize what was learned, identify gaps or actions, and use the Blue perspective to set the next discussion step.
Example: Reviewing a proposed customer-support change
Illustrative situation: A team is considering moving some support requests to a self-service portal and wants to avoid jumping immediately to arguments for or against it.
How to apply it: The group first records known request volumes, then concerns from users, risks such as inaccessible help, potential service benefits, alternative designs, and finally the evidence or pilot needed.
Example limits: This scenario is illustrative, not evidence about a real business. Use evidence relevant to your decision for your own facts, ratings, probabilities, or financial estimates.
How to read the result
Try adding perspectives from all six hats for a more comprehensive analysis: facts, emotions, caution, optimism, creativity, and process.
Questions about Six Thinking Hats
Do the hats represent different people in the group?
No. They are shared modes of thinking. Having everyone use the same perspective at one time helps separate types of discussion.
Is there one required order for the hats?
The facilitator can choose an order that fits the question. Keep the purpose of each mode clear and use a closing step to record decisions and remaining questions.
Next step
Enter the decision the group needs to examine, then capture at least one observation from each perspective before agreeing on a response.
Need a printable resource or a step-by-step method? Business decision-making tools. Choose a structured perspective method for a decision discussion.