You should come into this tool with the handful of ideas that emerged from the harvesting process.

Six Thinking Hats enables individuals or members of a group to systematically explore an idea from a variety of perspectives and in ways that may differ from their preferred way of thinking. Edward de Bono, an expert on thinking and the developer of this concept, explains the need for the tool this way, "The main difficulty of thinking is confusion. We try to do too much at once. Emotions, information, logic, hope and creativity all crowd in on us. It's like juggling too many balls." De Bono E (2000) Six Thinking Hats.

Exercise

Six hats thinking helps provide a well-rounded view from a variety of perspectives for each idea that emerged from the harvesting process. A quick run through the hats broadens everyone's understanding of the idea, thereby helping us decide whether the idea is feasible to take on to further development, or whether its challenges so far outweigh the potential benefits that it can be put aside at this point with no further expenditure of time and resources.

Aim to emerge from this tool having set aside the weakest one quarter of the ideas that have made it this far.

Tips

The key to success in using this tool is keeping up a lively pace.

Remember that the whole group must focus on the same thinking mode at the same time. The idea is to think together; what author Edward de Bono calls "parallel thinking." Don't hesitate to step in if this is being violated.

"Excuse me, we are on the yellow hat now, so only positive comments about benefits and good points are allowed... we'll go on to the purple hat where you can bring up those cautions soon enough."

Since, as creativity author David Perkins points out, "most of us are better critics than we are creators," some have found it useful to set the ground rule that "Your list under the Purple Hat can be no longer than that under the Yellow Hat."

Most people experience this process as a great way to do a pretty comprehensive analysis of an idea in a very short time. It is quite different from their usual experience debating ideas, and going round in circles, in a meeting.