Six Thinking Hats

The green hat is the hat of energy and creativity; its color suggests nature and growth. Under this hat, people lay out options and alternatives and look to modify and improve upon suggested ideas. Everyone is expected to give creative input. The green hat encourages people who may not think of themselves as creative to make a creative effort.

De Bono stresses that the “framework of possibilities” (116) is absolutely necessary for progress to arise. Under this hat, suggested courses of action are put forward. Difficulties raised in black hat thinking can also be overcome. If an abundance of ideas is produced, red hat thinking can pick out those that fit a particular framework, such as “low-cost ideas.”

The green thinking hat is concerned with finding new ideas and new ways to look at things. It is useful when a group gets bogged down with old ideas and needs a fresh approach, especially when nothing else has worked.

The green hat might be needed more than any of the other thinking hats, because new ideas are “delicate seedlings,” and the green hat protects these ideas from the negativity of black hat thinking.

The signaling value of the six hats has several aspects. One can request that someone put on a certain hat; indicate that a certain type of thinking is desirable; signal to others a desire to think in a certain way; and signal to oneself.