Awareness Programme on six thinking hats

1. Awareness Programme on six thinking hats

2. six thinking hats • Background • Concept • Case study Contents

3. six thinking hats Dr. Edward de Bono, originator of six thinking hats. Written more than sixty books on creativity in 35 languages. IBM, Shell, Siemens, ABB , Motorola, Ericsson, Ciba – Geigy and Kuwait Oil Company, Boeing, Japan Mcdonald, etc. have applied and benefited by using this thinking tool. Dr. Edward de Bono

4. Results • Japan McDonald – Meeting time cut by 25 %. • ABB – Product planning time reduced from 30 days / year • to 2 days / year • Siemens – Product development time cut by 30 % • Boeing - Averted strike by using Six Thinking Hats in • negotiations • Textile factory in Argentina – Increase in productivity by 20 % • ALPS electric group (peripherals supplier to IBM, Apple, Microsoft) • - Design of new computer key board for • home/ professional use.

5. Background • Dr. Edward de Bono , in his book on The mechanism of Mind • (1969) first described how the nerve networks in the brain • can separate thinking into distinct categories.. • In 1991,Dr. Edward de Bono established • Advance Practical Thinking Training (APTT). • to propagate this thinking tool. • certify instructors to teach thinking methods. • APTT supports over 900 instructors in 35 countries and • trained over 1,50,000 seminar participants.

6. Background • Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) had organised in association • with APTT four –day Certified Instructor workshop at Tata • Management Training Center (TMTC) Pune on Nov 5-8,2003 • Faculty : Kathy Myers – President of APTT,USA. • B. Shiva Subramaniam – TCS, Chennai • Certified Instructors are authorised to conduct one – day , • two-day Six Hats workshops using Certified Instructor material • and issue the certificates to the participants. • Two – day : Blue Hat Wearer (Leader in the Six Hat meeting) • One –day : Six Hat user (Member in the Six hat meeting) • Master Trainers are authorised under APTT supervision to • conduct four-day Certified Instructor workshop

7. Background • 19 master trainers in the world, only one, Mr. Shiva in India. • Organisations in India, who have attended these four-day • Certified Instructor’s workshops are • TCS –all over India. • Zee Tele films, Mumbai • Videocon • Piramal Industries • Voltas • State Bank Of India • Indian Oil • Reliance Industries, Hazira • L & T EBG

8. Concept • There are nine meanings of the word Think • inWebster Encyclopedia of dictionaries. • to conceive • to surmise • to consider • to believe • to reason • to form a judgement • to deliberate • to imagine • to recollect

9. Areas of application • Critical meeting facilitation tool • Outstanding team productivity / communication tool • Creativity enhancer • Control mechanism to maximise and organise a • person’s thoughts (help and make decisions and solve problems)

10. Advantages • Provides skills to apply immediately. • Simple and effective to use • Focuses and redirects the thoughts • Adversarial confrontation is replaced by • co-operative exploration (Parallel thinking) • Separates ego from performance

11. Why Hats ? • Practical to use and easy to remember • Link between “thinking” and “hats” • Thinking processes can be switched easily just as the hats. • Hats indicate certain roles / types of thinking

12. six thinking hats Red Hat (Feelings/ hunches / intuition) White hat (Data/ Information) Green Hat (Creativity/ alternatives) Black hat (Difficulties/ Problems) Blue hat (managing the thinking process) Yellow Hat (Brightness / Optimism)

13. six thinking hats white hat • Available information • Required information • Bridge the gap

14. six thinking hats “Annual quantity of the product is 5000 nos.” “This product uses EPS buffers in packing.” White hat statements

15. six thinking hats red hat • What are my feelings right now? • What does my intuition tell me? • What is my gut reaction?

16. six thinking hats Key Points • Quick round of 30 seconds or less. • Permission to express feelings, hunches, and intuitions • No need to explain reasons • Can be used before and after the meeting

17. six thinking hats Red hat statements • I’m enthusiastic! • I like it! • I wish I had more information. • Sounds interesting. • I feel uncertain. • I dislike it. • Hate it!

18. six thinking hats black hat • Possible problems ? • Difficulties ? • Points for caution ? • Risks ?

19. six thinking hats “If we do not improve we may loose our customers” Project could not be completed on time because of strike Black hat statements

20. six thinking hats yellow hat • Benefits? • The positives? • Is there a concept in this idea that looks attractive? • Can this be made to work?

21. six thinking hats “If we buy from nearby source we will save on octroi.” “Lighter weight of the product will save transportation cost.” Yellow hat statements

22. six thinking hats green hat • What creative ideas do we have? • What are the alternatives? • How can we overcome the black hat difficulties? • Random word or random object can be used to trigger creativity ?

23. six thinking hats “Here is my green hat. We could hire a new project manager, retrain a current employee, or out source the work.” “I’ve got a green hat idea: let’s build a tunnel instead of a bridge.” Green hat statements

24. six thinking hats blue hat • Where should we start? • What is the agenda? • What are the objectives? • Which hats should we use? • How can we summarize? • What should we do next?

25. six thinking hats Key Points • The facilitator hat • Can be worn by any member • Focuses and refocuses thinking • Handles requests for thinking • Points out inappropriate comments • Asks for summaries • Makes or calls for decisions • Manages the time of the meeting

26. six thinking hats How to use hats ? Types of Sequences Fixed Flexible

27. six thinking hats Types of Sequences Contingent ? ? Evolving

28. six thinking hats How to Discipline Time “The time is up for green hat thinking. If there are any more ideas, I will extend the time by two more minutes.” “The timer is set for four minutes; we will now have white hat thinking.” “Let’s take a quick 30 seconds for red hat thinking.” Blue hat statements

29. six thinking hats • Ways to Use the Hats • Individual use • Conversation use • Meeting use • Reports, memos, e-mail, and presentation use

30. six thinking hats Individual • Focus on one hat at a time • Stick to a time limit

31. six thinking hats Conversation “Let’s do some red hat thinking.” • Signaling • Getting Unstuck • Switching Thinking • Caution Without Criticism

32. six thinking hats Meeting • Use designated hat • Encourage all to participate • Only blue hat interrupts • Blue hat prompting • Directions, not descriptions • Handling conflicts “Let’s take four minutes for the green hat.”

33. six thinking hats Written Work “We need white hat information on the following focus.” • Use the hats framework to improve and simplify • Reports • Memos • E-mail

34. sixthinkinghats Tips for Success Practice! Practice! Practice! Be prepared. Explain the hats simply. Insist on the terminology. Start with easy issues.

35. sixthinkinghats Case study Blue hat Problem : To suggest alternate packing for a moulded case circuit breaker. Hat sequence : Blue 1.0 minute White 2.5 minutes Red 0.5 minute Black 1.5 minutes yellow 1.5 minutes Green 2.0 minutes Blue 1.0 minutes Total time = 10 minutes

36. sixthinkinghats Case study White hat (2.5 minutes) • Weight of the product = 3 kg • Product sealed in polybag, put in thermocole buffers and • packed in corrugated boxes. • One unit per box • Cost of packing material Rs. 25 per product. • Annual qty = 4000 nos • Annual cost = Rs. One lakh • No damage at present

37. sixthinkinghats Case study Red hat (0.5 minute) • Needs to be solved • It is important • Interesting problem • Good challenge • I am enthusiastic

38. sixthinkinghats Case study Black hat (1.5 minute) • Change will cause lot of problems • Existing set up may need to be changed • More suppliers will have to be identified • New technology in packing will be required • Logistics may be a issue • Cost may increase • Availability of alternate material ? • More time to develop • Should be customer friendly for unpacking • Safety aspects

39. sixthinkinghats Case study Yellow hat (1.5 minutes) • Scope for innovation • Possibility of savings in cost • Customer may get delighted by elimination of thermocole • Opportunity to learn new things • Market share may improve

40. sixthinkinghats Case study Green hat (2.0 minutes) • Use air–bags • Use dry grass • Corrugated padding • Use coir padding • Use saw dust for cushioning • Use paper scrap for cushioning • Make it re-cyclable • Use bubble sheets

41. sixthinkinghats Case study Blue hat (1.0 minute) Summary : • Corrugated padding • Air bags • Coir padding

42. sixthinkinghats Thank you VEry much