Six Hats Reflection

     After reading the book, Six Thinking Hats by Edward De Bono, and using the techniques the author describes, I find a number of positive results. For instance, using the white (facts) hat and the red (emotions) hat to evaluate a situation helps me to separate my emotions from the facts. In the past, I think I often used facts to justify my emotions. Another benefit of using the hats is that it forces me to actually think about a situation from a number of perspectives before I take action. Sometimes, I might otherwise act impulsively based on my natural yellow (positive) and green (creative solutions) hat orientation. Now, I take the time to think about both my emotions and the emotions of others. I also ask more questions and try to think of possible negative outcomes. Finally, I like when a group of people all wear the same hat at the same time. Instead of pursuing a number of often conflicting lines of thought, we are truly working together in sync during a discussion.
     Although I have found success using the red and white hats to evaluate a situation, I am not sure how effective the process would be with children. The author's applications are all business-related situations with adults. When conflict occurs during recess time, red hats become very large and white hats become stained with red very quickly. I have had much more success using all six hats with students to discuss the choices made by a character in a story or to identify what type of thinking a student is using at a particular moment. I will be interested to learn how other teachers effectively use the hats.
     While I will continue to use the six hats' process, I do find some possible areas of concern. For instance, even De Bono notes the perils of giving the black hat too much weight. I also worry that in situations with a superior, parallel thinking (which is already a problem) would become extreme. In addition, I find that almost any problem-solving paradigm if used by a group is quite effective. I am not fully convinced that using the Six Thinking Hats is more effective than The One-Minute Manager, Tribes, Student Assistance, Reality Therapy or a number of other methods. Overall, however, I have benefited from reading the book and will recommend it to others.