Six Thinking Hats

Edward de Bono's parallel-thinking method on one page — the antidote to meetings where the loudest voice wins and the same argument goes in circles. Instead of everyone pushing their own angle at once, the whole room wears one coloured hat at a time: White for facts and data, Red for gut feelings (no justification allowed — that's the point), Black for caution and risks, Yellow for benefits and optimism, Green for fresh ideas and alternatives, and Blue to run the process and land the decision. Because everyone thinks in the same mode together, the facts don't get buried under opinions, the risks get their turn before the enthusiasm takes over, and the quiet creative idea actually gets heard. Six colour-coded panels, four lines each, with a topic band up top and a Blue-hat close. Fill it in as a record, or print it blank and run the session live — start and end on Blue.

• Landscape
• 1 page
• Planning

Best for: Breaking a circular debate open by forcing one mode of thinking at a time — so feelings, facts, risks, and fresh ideas each get a fair hearing.