Why Should Business Owners Try Wearing Six Different Hats?

Developing creativity takes practice, but you can do it. If it seems to you that someone else always comes up with the good ideas and problem solutions, you may think, “I’m not creative.” Our analysis and thought processes may become automatic over the years and if they work for us, we have no reason to change them. It may happen that our own thinking patterns limit our ability to approach problems creatively.

If you set your mind on becoming creative, or more creative, it will happen. One thing you can do is to try the Six Hats Technique, often attributed to Edward de Bono. It involves looking at a problem from six different perspectives. By thinking about it in different ways, you will produce more ideas than if you only analyze from just one or two points of view. Here’s how it works.

The Six Hats Technique:

• Red Hat: Study the situation emotionally. What do your feelings tell you?
• White Hat: Look at the problem objectively. List the facts.
• Yellow Hat: Use a positive perspective. Which elements of your solution do you think will work?
• Black Hat: Use a negative perspective. Which elements of a possible solution won’t work?
• Green Hat: Think differently. What are some alternative ideas?
• Blue Hat: Think broadly. What is the best overall solution?

Becoming an expert in your field gives you the best chance of coming up with better ideas. Solid foundation and hands-on experience are important. In productivity studies a few years ago, it was discovered that the people who came up with the best ideas for improvement in manufacturing were the people doing the work. They knew how particular processes could be done more efficiently.

It wasn’t creative geniuses who had the best answers, it was the people who were thinking about the situation for some time. They had played out different ideas in their minds and knew what would work. They were the real experts. If you asked them, they might have said the ideas were just practical solutions, but at the same time these ideas were creative.