Making a decision is rarely a simple yes or no. Unless it involves chocolate and then, of course, it’s a YES. :-)
Other decisions are more complicated. Perhaps they involve factors that are not within your control or are driven by time or budget issues. There may be people who are trying to help and instead are just confusing you. Sometimes you might be so overwhelmed by all the possible scenarios that you end up making no decision.
So, what do you do?
I’m going to share with you a process called Six Thinking Hats. What sounds like the title of a children’s story book is actually a thinking skills training course that was developed by Edward DeBono, a world renowned business consultant.
Six Thinking Hats teaches parallel thinking as an alternative to argument, so instead of attacking another’s thoughts or ideas, participants learn how to separate emotion from facts, the positive from the negative and critical thinking from creative thinking.
Here are the basics
- There are six different imaginary hats that you can put on or take off.
- Think of the “hats” as thinking icons.
- Each hat is a different color and represents a different type or mode of thinking. (See photo)
- In a group, everyone wears the same hat at the same time. (parallel thinking)
- When we change hats – we change our thinking.
Remember, parallel thinking guides thought processes in one direction at a time so you can effectively analyze issues, generate new ideas, and make better decisions.
Try this the next time you have a decision to make and let me know the results.
Thank you for sharing this space with me. Feel free to comment below and forward this to anyone you think may find it of value.