six-thinking-hats

name	six-thinking-hats
description	Six parallel thinking perspectives — White/Red/Black/Yellow/Green/Blue — to separate facts, feelings, risks, benefits, creativity, and process.
group	thinking
keywords	["six-hats","parallel-thinking","de-bono","perspectives","evaluation","creativity","decision"]
task_strategies	["spike","investigation"]
stream_affinity	["roadmap","research"]
allowed-tools	["Read","Glob","Grep","AskUserQuestion"]
status	experimental
source	Edward de Bono — Six Thinking Hats (1985)
acquired	2026-06-15

Six Thinking Hats

Six perspectives, one at a time. No mixing.

Edward de Bono's parallel thinking framework. The key insight: most group decisions fail because people think in different modes simultaneously — one person doing risk analysis, another doing creative thinking, another defending a position. Six Hats separates these modes so everyone thinks the same way at the same time.

---

The Hats

Hat	Color	Mode	Question
White	⬜	Facts & data	What do we know? What's missing?
Red	🟥	Feelings & intuition	What's my gut reaction? What feels wrong?
Black	⬛	Caution & risks	What could go wrong? What are the downsides?
Yellow	🟨	Optimism & value	What's the best case? What's genuinely valuable here?
Green	🟩	Creativity & alternatives	What other options exist? What if we tried X?
Blue	🟦	Process & facilitation	What are we doing? What's the next step?

---

When to use

• When a team is stuck in debate (everyone arguing from mixed modes simultaneously)
• When a decision needs both optimism and caution explored equally
• When you want to ensure a blind spot (e.g., creativity, feelings) gets explicit attention
• High-stakes evaluations where one perspective usually dominates
• Pairs with /brana:decision-matrix for structured scoring after the hat sweep

---

Step 1 — Frame the question

What are we evaluating or deciding?

AskUserQuestion: "What decision or situation are we thinking through with Six Hats?"

---

Step 2 — Choose a sequence

Scenario	Recommended sequence
Evaluating an existing proposal	Blue → White → Yellow → Black → Green → Red → Blue
Solving a problem	Blue → White → Green → Yellow → Black → Red → Blue
Managing conflict	Blue → Red → White → Yellow → Black → Green → Blue
Quick decision	Blue → White → Black → Yellow → Blue

Ask if unsure:

AskUserQuestion:
  question: "What's the primary goal of this thinking session?"
  options:
    - "Evaluate a proposal"
    - "Solve a problem"
    - "Resolve conflict or disagreement"
    - "Quick decision check"

---

Step 3 — Run each hat

For each hat in the sequence, think only in that mode. Suppress all other modes.

⬜ White Hat — Facts

• What data do we have?
• What data do we need?
• What are the known facts (not interpretations)?
• What is uncertain or unknown?

🟥 Red Hat — Feelings

• What is your gut reaction?
• What excites you about this?
• What makes you uneasy, even if you can't explain why?
• No justification needed — feelings are data.

⬛ Black Hat — Caution

• What could go wrong?
• What are the logical weaknesses?
• What assumptions might be false?
• What risks haven't been addressed?
• (This is the most overused hat — limit it to this slot only)

🟨 Yellow Hat — Value

• What is genuinely valuable here?
• What's the best realistic outcome?
• What opportunities does this create?
• What strengths does this have?

🟩 Green Hat — Creativity

• What alternatives haven't been considered?
• What if we changed [constraint X]?
• What's the unconventional approach?
• Can we combine existing ideas differently?

🟦 Blue Hat — Process

• At start: What are we trying to achieve? What's the sequence?
• At end: What did we conclude? What's the next action?

---

Step 4 — Synthesize

After the sequence, the Blue Hat closes:

**Six Hats synthesis for [topic]**

Facts established (White): [key data points]
Gut signals (Red): [notable feelings / instincts]
Key risks (Black): [top 2-3]
Core value (Yellow): [strongest case for]
Alternatives surfaced (Green): [new options]

Conclusion: [decision or next step]

---

Notes

• The Black Hat is not "being negative" — it's doing quality control. Don't suppress it.
• The Red Hat gives permission to voice intuition without justification — critical for surfacing what formal analysis misses
• In solo use: spend 3–5 minutes per hat in writing before moving to the next
• Don't wear two hats at once — if someone says "I know we're in Yellow but the risk is..." redirect to Black Hat time
• De Bono's insight: parallel thinking removes ego from disagreement — everyone is wearing the same hat, so disagreement is the hat disagreeing, not the person