Six pairs of thinking glasses

Are you familiar with "Six Thinking Hats" system by Edward de Bono?
Well, according to him ( de Bono, Edward (1985). Six Thinking Hats: An Essential Approach to Business Management. Little, Brown, & Company) there are six distinct directions of thinking process which are identified and assigned a color. The six directions are:

• Managing Blue – what is the subject? what are we thinking about? what is the goal? Someone can look at the big picture.
• Information White – considering purely what information is available, what are the facts?
• Emotions Red – intuitive or instinctive gut reactions or statements of emotional feeling (but not any justification).
• Discernment Black – logic applied to identifying reasons to be cautious and conservative. Practical, realistic.
• Optimistic response Yellow – logic applied to identifying benefits, seeking harmony. Sees the brighter, sunny side of situations.
• Creativity Green – statements of provocation and investigation, seeing where a thought goes. Someone can think creatively, outside the box.

 Having identified the six modes of thinking that can be accessed, distinct programs can be created. These are sequences of hats which encompass and structure the thinking process toward a distinct goal.

In  Six Thinking Hats Official training materials, DeBono Thinking Systems it is mentioned that sequences always begin and end with a blue hat; the group agrees together how they will think, then they do the thinking, then they evaluate the outcomes of that thinking and what they should do next. Sequences (and indeed hats) may be used by individuals working alone or in groups, each hat is typically used for approximately 2 minutes at a time – although at the start of a process an extended white hat session is common to get everyone onto the same page, and the red hat is recommended to be used for a very short period to get a visceral gut reaction – about 30 seconds, and in practice often takes the form of dot-voting.

Initial Ideas – Blue, White, Green, Blue
Choosing between alternatives – Blue, White,(Green), Yellow, Black, Red, Blue
Identifying Solutions – Blue, White, Black, Green, Blue
Quick Feedback – Blue, Black, Green, Blue
Strategic Planning – Blue, Yellow, Black, White, Blue, Green, Blue
Process Improvement – Blue, White, White (Other peoples views), Yellow, Black, Green, Red, Blue
Solving Problems – Blue, White, Green, Red, Yellow, Black, Green, Blue
Performance Review – Blue, Red, White, Yellow, Black, Green Red, Blue

 In my activity, what I propose is based on Edward de Bono's system but in a bit different way. Instead of using thinking hats we are going to use thinking glasses! We are going to practice our critical thinking and students should have to deal with a problem, come up with solutions,  cooperate, reconsider their choices ,adjust to the new conditions and evaluate the outcome.

For example the lesson may start with everyone assuming the Blue pair of thinking glasses to discuss how the session will be conducted and to develop the goals and objectives. The discussion may then move to Red pair of thinking glasses  in order to collect opinions and reactions to the problem. This phase may also be used to develop constraints for the actual solution such as who will be affected by the problem and/or solutions. Next the discussion may move to the (Yellow then) Green pair of glasses in order to generate ideas and possible solutions. Next the discussion may move between White pair of thinking glasses as part of developing information and Black pair of thinking glasses to develop criticisms of the solution set.

You can apply this activity on many subjects like dealing with an environmental problem, a sudden crisis, an unexpected  problem at school or at work etc. Students can practice their thinking and communication skills, their critical response and critical thinking so as to turn into future adults who will 

• Maximize productive collaboration and minimize counterproductive interaction/behavior
• Consider issues, problems, decisions, and opportunities systematically
• Use Parallel Thinking as a group or team to generate more, better ideas and solutions
• Make meetings much shorter and more productive
• Reduce conflict among team members or meeting participants
• Stimulate innovation by generating more and better ideas quickly
• Create dynamic, results oriented meetings that make people want to participate
• Go beyond the obvious to discover effective alternate solutions
• Spot opportunities where others see only problems
• Think clearly and objectively
• View problems from new and unusual angles
• Make thorough evaluations
• See all sides of a situation
• Keep egos in check
• Achieve significant and meaningful results in a less time                             http://www.debonogroup.com/six_thinking_hats.php

 Have fun!
Maria, P,