CREATIVE AND INNOVATIVE

1. 1.0. INTRODUCTION
Six Thinking Hats' is an important and powerful technique. It is used to look at decisions from a
number of important perspectives. This forces you to move outside your habitual thinking
style, and helps you to get a more rounded view of a situation. This tool was created by Edward
de Bono in his book '6 Thinking Hats'. Many successful people think from a very rational,
positive viewpoint. This is part of the reason that they are successful. Often, though, they may
fail to look at a problem from an emotional, intuitive, creative or negative viewpoint. This can
mean that they underestimate resistance to plans, fail to make creative leaps and do not make
essential contingency plans. Similarly, pessimists may be excessively defensive, and more
emotional people may fail to look at decisions calmly and rationally. If you look at a problem
with the 'Six Thinking Hats' technique, then you will solve it using all approaches. Your decisions
and plans will mix ambition, skill in execution, public sensitivity, creativity and good
contingency planning.
2.0. BIOGRAPHY OF INVENTOR
Edward de Bono was born in Malta in 1933. He attended St Edward's College, Malta, during
World War II and then the University of Malta where he qualified in medicine. He preceded, as
a Rhodes Scholar, to Christ Church, Oxford, where he gained an honours degree in psychology
and physiology and then a D.Phil. in medicine. He also holds a PhD from Cambridge and an MD
from the University of Malta. He has held appointments at the universities of Oxford, London,
Cambridge and Harvard.
Dr. Edward de Bono is one of the very few people in history who can be said to have had a
major impact on the way we think. In many ways he could be said to be the best known thinker
internationally. He has written numerous books with translations into 34 languages (all the
major languages plus Hebrew, Arabic, Bahasa, Urdu, Slovene, Turkish etc.). He has been invited
to lecture in 52 countries around the world. In the University of Buenos Aires five faculties use
his books as required reading. In Venezuela, by law, all school children must spend an hour a
week on his programmes. In Singapore 102 secondary schools use his work. In Malaysia the

2. senior science schools have been using his work for ten years. In the U.S.A., Canada, Australia,
New Zealand, the Republic of Ireland and the UK there are thousands of schools using Dr de
Bono's programmes for the teaching of thinking. At the International Thinking Meeting in
Boston (1992) He was given an award as a key pioneer in the direct teaching of thinking in
schools.
In 1988 he was awarded the first Capire prize in Madrid for a significant contribution to
humankind. What is unique about Dr de Bono is the response to his work across an unusually
wide spectrum. At the special request of the delegates Dr de Bono was asked to address the
Commonwealth Law Conference in Vancouver in August 1996 (2,300 senior lawyers, judges etc
from 52 Commonwealth countries and other invited countries such as China). This followed an
address which was regarded as the highlight of a previous Conference held in Auckland.
Dr de Bono has worked with many of the major corporations in the world such as IBM, Du Pont,
Prudential, AT&T, British Airways, British Coal, NTT (Japan), Ericsson (Sweden), Total (France),
etc. The largest corporation in Europe, Siemens (370,000 employees) is teaching his work
across the whole corporation, following Dr de Bono's talk to the senior management team.
When Microsoft held their first ever marketing meeting, they invited Edward de Bono to give
the keynote address in Seattle to the five hundred top managers.
Edward de Bono's special contribution has been to take the mystical subject of creativity and,
for the first time in history, to put the subject on a solid basis. He has shown that creativity was
a necessary behaviour in a self-organizing information system. His key book, 'The Mechanism of
Mind' was published in 1969. In it he showed how the nerve networks in the brain formed
asymmetric patterns as the basis of perception. The leading physicist in the world, Professor
Murray Gell Mann, said of this book that it was ten years ahead of mathematicians dealing with
chaos theory, non-linear and self-organising systems.

3. 3.0. REQUIREMENT OF SIX THINKING HATS
Six Thinking Hats is a time-tested, proven, and practical thinking tool. It provides a framework
to help people think clearly and thoroughly by directing their thinking attention in one direction
at a time--white hat facts, green hat creativity, yellow hat benefits, black cautions, red hat
feelings, and blue hat process.
It's a simple mental metaphor. Hats are easy to put on and to take off. Each hat is a different
color which signals the thinking ingredient. In a group setting each member thinks using the
same thinking hat, at the same time, on the same thinking challenge—we call this focused
parallel thinking.
Six Thinking Hats is a powerful tool that facilitates productive: critical thinking, collaboration,
communication, and creativity. It enables each person's unique point of view to be included
and considered. Argument and endless discussion become a thing of the past. Thinking
becomes more thorough.
3.1. When We Want To Use It?
As the following example illustrates, this is a particularly useful tool during or after the
harvesting of ideas as it extends our understanding of the idea, thereby helping to determine
whether the idea is feasible. You can however, use it in any context requiring a well-rounded
view from a variety of perspectives.
De Bono's six hats represent artificial distinctions in common patterns of thought. Their value
lies in helping us to adopt different patterns of thought (taking our normal hat off and trying on
another). Six Thinking Hats has been specifically designed so that everyone thinks in parallel
using only one hat at a time. They are best used with some sort of time limit for each hat so
that people know the discussion will come around to their favourite bit soon. We suggest
around 4-5 minutes for each hat and then repeat the sequence if needed. Without the time
alert there is a danger that the conversation gets stuck on one area. This encourages the group
to ‘try on other hats' when you have looked at a situation for too long and have become fixed
in a specific style, e.g. too negative (black hat) or too emotional (red hat).

4. When facing complex situations which call for reactions of different kinds, it is useful to adopt
the different patterns of thinking, one at a time. For example:
 White hat thinking helps establish known facts
 Green hat thinking helps to think about new ideas
 Blue hat thinking draws together the contribution of different parties
 Black hat thinking determines all the possible errors that could occur
Ask leading questions to activate different hats
 What are the facts? (White)
 What do you feel about this? What is your gut feeling? (red)
 What can go wrong? (black)
 List all the benefits, (yellow)
 Is there a different way of looking at this? (green)
 Could you summarize our findings so far? (blue)
4.0. PROCESS AND DETAIL IMPLEMENTATION
You can use Six Thinking Hats in meetings or on your own. In meetings it has the benefit of
blocking the confrontations that happen when people with different thinking styles discuss the
same problem. Each 'Thinking Hat' is a different style of thinking. These are explained below:
4.1. White Hat:
With this thinking hat you focus on the data available. Look at the information
you have, and see what you can learn from it. Look for gaps in your knowledge,
and either try to fill them or take account of them. This is where you analyze
past trends, and try to extrapolate from historical data. The White Hat
represents pure knowledge gathering, data collection, and historical account. It
asks, “What do we know?” It addresses cognition. The process involves
exploring facts rather than personal opinions. “First class” facts consist of ones

5. that are checked and proven, while “second class” facts include information
believed to be true. Information that is missing is also included here. The white
hat covers facts, figures, information needs, and gaps.
4.2. Red Hat:
'Wearing' the red hat, you look at problems using intuition, gut reaction, and emotion.
Also try to think how other people will react emotionally. Try to understand the
responses of people who do not fully know your reasoning. The Red Hat represents
feelings and hunches. This hat legitimizes emotions and explores fears, likes, dislikes,
loves, and hates. This hat legitimizes emotions and feeling by focusing on “This is how I
feel.” It addresses affect by focusing on hunches, intuition, and signal. The red hat is
the opposite of neutral, objective information (White Hat). Here there is no need to
give reasons or justification for the subjective feelings.
4.3. Black Hat:
Using black hat thinking, look at all the bad points of the decision. Look at it cautiously
and defensively. Try to see why it might not work. This is important because it
highlights the weak points in a plan. It allows you to eliminate them, alter them, or
prepare contingency plans to counter them. Black Hat thinking helps to make your
plans 'tougher' and more resilient. It can also help you to spot fatal flaws and risks
before you embark on a course of action. Black Hat thinking is one of the real benefits
of this technique, as many successful people get so used to thinking positively that
often they cannot see problems in advance. This leaves them under-prepared for
difficulties.
4.4. Yellow Hat:
The yellow hat helps you to think positively. It is the optimistic viewpoint that helps you
to see all the benefits of the decision and the value in it. Yellow Hat thinking helps you
to keep going when everything looks gloomy and difficult.

6. 4.5. Green Hat:
The Green Hat stands for creativity. This is where you can develop creative solutions to
a problem. It is a freewheeling way of thinking, in which there is little criticism of ideas.
A whole range of creativity tools can help you here. The Green Hat symbolizes fertility,
growth, and the value of seeds. It involves creative thinking and the search for
alternatives while generating new concepts and new perceptions. The green hat is the
"thinking outside the box" creative hat. It asks, “What haven’t you considered before?”
It involves brainstorming and free association which explore new possibilities,
alternatives, ideas, and concepts
4.6. Blue Hat:
The Blue Hat stands for process control. This is the hat worn by people chairing
meetings. When running into difficulties because ideas are running dry, they may direct
activity into Green Hat thinking. When contingency plans are needed, they will ask for
Black Hat thinking, etc. The Blue Hat represents the management of the thinking
process. Blue Hat thinkers are like the orchestra conductors seeking the proper balance
and blending of the other five hats. It asks, “What is the conclusion?” Blue Hat thinking
is a final reflection on the other five hats that have been both over and under-utilized
in the problem solving exploration. The Blue hat is also responsible for summaries,
overviews, and conclusions.

7. 5.0. SUMMARIZE OF PROCESS AND IMPLEMENTATION SIX THINKING HATS
This is summarizing for the all process of implementation for six thinking hats. It will to easier
for us to know about function all of this hats colour.
Blue Hat Thinking- Process
 Thinking about thinking
 What thinking is needed?
 Organizing the thinking
 Planning for action
White Hat Thinking- Facts
 Information and data
 Neutral and objective
 What do I know?
 What do I need to find out?
 How will I get the information I need?
Green Hat Thinking - Creativity
 Ideas, alternative, possibilities
 Provocation - "PO"
 Solutions to black hat problems.
Yellow Hat Thinking- Benefits
 Positives, plus points
 Logical reasons are given.
 Why an idea is useful

8. Black Hat Thinking - Cautions
 Difficulties, weaknesses, dangers
 Logical reasons are given.
 Spotting the risks
Red Hat Thinking - Feelings
 Intuition, hunches, gut instinct
 My feelings right now.
 Feelings can change.
 No reasons are given.
6.0. EXAMPLE FOR SIX THINKING HATS
The directors of a property company are looking at whether they should construct a new office
building. The economy is doing well, and the amount of vacant office space is reducing sharply.
As part of their decision they decide to use the 6 Thinking Hats technique during a planning
meeting. Looking at the problem with the White Hat, they analyze the data they have. They
examine the trend in vacant office space, which shows a sharp reduction. They anticipate that
by the time the office block would be completed, that there will be a severe shortage of office
space. Current government projections show steady economic growth for at least the
construction period.
With Red Hat thinking, some of the directors think the proposed building looks quite ugly.
While it would be highly cost-effective, they worry that people would not like to work in it.
When they think with the Black Hat, they worry that government projections may be wrong.
The economy may be about to enter a 'cyclical downturn', in which case the office building may
be empty for a long time. If the building is not attractive, then companies will choose to work in
another better-looking building at the same rent.

9. With the Yellow Hat, however, if the economy holds up and their projections are correct, the
company stands to make a great deal of money. If they are lucky, maybe they could sell the
building before the next downturn, or rent to tenants on long-term leases that will last through
any recession.
With Green Hat thinking they consider whether they should change the design to make the
building more pleasant. Perhaps they could build prestige offices that people would want to
rent in any economic climate. Alternatively, maybe they should invest the money in the short
term to buy up property at a low cost when a recession comes.
The Blue Hat has been used by the meeting's Chair to move among the different thinking styles.
He or she may have needed to keep other members of the team from switching styles, or from
criticizing other peoples' points.
7.0. LIMITATION
The authors propose some possible limitations when using this problem-solving process. First,
one or more counselor interns in the group might passively agree appearing to contribute to
each of the six hats, while not necessarily reconsidering their own original preference. This can
result in a more passive, low-energy approach to the activity. The same can also be true of the
volunteer presenting the case study. If there is not a genuine willingness by the volunteer to
consider other options, the group may feel devalued.
A possible solution to address the above issues is for the supervisor to stress group norms as
being foundational for establishing a safe, trusting, and non-evaluating environment at the very
beginning of the process. Another recommended solution to either group or volunteer (case
presenter) bias is for the supervisor to encourage them to “act as if” they are willing to
consider new solutions to their preconceived notions.
From the very perspective of the green hat stressing “outside of the box creativity”, the six hats
themselves may not be comprehensive enough to capture the breadth of the participants’
problem-solving. A suggested solution is to go back to the blue hat and ask “Is there anything
else that has not been adequately addressed by any of the hats?”

10. Another limitation is that the volunteer as well as the group members may feel overwhelmed
with too much data being generated. This is especially true for visual learners. Having someone
post the suggestions for each respective hat on the board is one suggestion. Asking the
volunteer to either select some of the most salient suggestions or even to wait a week and
report back to the group on helpful feedback is another option.
8.0. DISCUSSION
We will discuss about their advantage and some disadvantage when we are applies this
method creative problem solving in our life.
8.1. ADVANTAGE USING SIX HATS
 Allows you to say things without risk.
 Generates understanding that there are multiple perspectives on an issue.
 Is a convenient mechanism for “switching gears”.
 Focuses thinking.
 Leads to more creative thinking.
 Improves communication.
 Improves decision making.
8.2. DISADVANTAGE
 We need to apply in group for solving the problem
 Requires brainstorming to solve the problems
9.0. CONCLUSION
The teaching of creative and critical thinking has become essential in nursing education today.
Individuals who have critical thinking skills feel the need to improve themselves and revise
what they have learned. Individuals who have not gained this skill remain rigid in relation to
what was learned and are not generally creative and constructive (Demirci 2003). Consequently
there is a need to test the use of educational models that will teach creative and constructive

11. thinking in nursing education. For these reasons it was thought that it would be important in
this study to share the experiences gained using the ‘six thinking hats’ model in nursing
education. The ‘six thinking hats’ model is a method of learning that not only improved the
students’ creative and critical thinking abilities; it also had a positive effect on their empathy
skills and getting to know themselves. In the future using this method in different areas of
nursing education and sharing the results will have a positive effect on teaching. In addition the
system of thinking used in the method will not only help the individuals in their professional
lives but also will help them make the right decisions in their personal lives.

12. REFERENCE
1. De Bono, E. (1985). Six thinking hats. New York: Back Bay Books.
2. Karadag, M., Saritas, S., & Erginer E. (2009). Using the 'Six Thinking Hats' Model of Learning
in a Surgical Nursing Class: Sharing the Experience and Student Opinions. Australian Journal
of Advanced Nursing, 26(3), 59-69. Retrieved from Academic Search Premier Database.
3. Kenny, L. (2003). Using Edward de Bono’s six hats game to aid critical thinking and
reflection in palliative care. International Journal of Palliative Nursing, 9(3), 105.
4. NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement 2006-2013. From website:
http://www.institute.nhs.uk/