Lateral Thinking (Edward de Bono's Six Thinking Hats)

What is Lateral Thinking (Edward de Bono's Six Thinking Hats)?

A parallel thinking framework by Edward de Bono that replaces adversarial debate with structured, collaborative exploration. Six metaphorical colored hats represent six distinct thinking modes: White (data/facts), Red (emotions/intuition), Black (caution/risks), Yellow (optimism/benefits), Green (creativity/alternatives), and Blue (process/overview). By having everyone wear the same hat at the same time, the method eliminates ego-driven arguments and ensures all perspectives are systematically explored.

Is there evidence for it?

How do you do Lateral Thinking (Edward de Bono's Six Thinking Hats)?

1. 1.Present the problem or decision to the group, then cycle through the six hats in sequence, spending 5-10 minutes on each
2. 2.WHITE HAT: What data do we have? What data do we need? What are the facts? (No opinions allowed)
3. 3.RED HAT: What is your gut feeling about this? What emotions does this trigger? (No justification needed — pure intuition)
4. 4.BLACK HAT: What could go wrong? What are the risks? Why might this fail? (Critical thinking, not negativity)
5. 5.YELLOW HAT: What are the benefits? Why could this work? What is the best-case scenario? GREEN HAT: What alternatives exist? What haven't we considered? What's the wildest possibility?
6. 6.BLUE HAT (facilitator wears throughout): Manage the process, summarize insights from each hat, and define next steps

How long does it take?

45-90 minutes per session for a full six-hat cycle.

Is it hard to start?

easy.

This is one entry from the library Shift matches against. It is general information, not advice about you, and nothing on this page came from anyone's conversation.