Six Thinking Hats for Beginners: Take Turns by Hat to Decide Adopt, Hold, or Drop

Business & Strategy

Six Thinking Hats for Beginners: Take Turns by Hat to Decide Adopt, Hold, or Drop

A Six Thinking Hats for Beginners template to help a team review one idea in a meeting without a for-or-against fight, taking turns by hat until deciding to adopt, hold, or drop it. The whiteboard has four pages - set the idea and hat order (page 1), write opinions by hat (page 2), sort adopt, hold, or drop by benefit and risk (page 3), and set owners and the plan until next time (page 4). The task board has five columns - preparing, sharing opinions, judging, acting, and done - with four parent tasks and three subtasks each. Six Thinking Hats has everyone wear the same one of six hats at once - white (facts), red (feelings), black (risk), yellow (benefit), green (ideas), blue (process) - sharing only opinions that fit it, so objections surface in black and support in yellow, and one idea gets checked from every angle in 25 minutes.

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six thinking hats six hats method how to run a meeting idea evaluation for beginners
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① The idea and what to decide (start ... ③ Order to wear each hat and time lim... ④ Opinion grid by hat (in order of③, ... ⑤ Opinions worth noting and things to... ⑥ Place ideas by benefit x risk, usin... Hold candidate (high benefit, high risk) Adopt candidate (high benefit, low risk) Drop candidate (low benefit, high risk) Hold candidate (low benefit, low risk) ⑦ Adopt (from the "adopt candidates" ... ⑧ Hold ⑨ Drop ⑩ Reasons for the decision (why each ... ⑪ Tasks, owner, deadline, and check f... ⑫ The path to the next meeting ⑬ What to evaluate next with Six Thin... Six Thinking Hats... How to use (4 pag... The idea & wh... Process & thi... Risk, concerns &a... Benefits, insight... 1/4 Pick the idea to ... Ctrl+F / ⌘F : 2/4... → 2/4 2/4 Share views by hat ↙ 3/4 The idea to evaluate (in one sentence)e.g. Change the weekly 60-minute standup to everyother week, and post progress in chat on off weeks What to decide, and by whene.g. Decide adopt, hold, or drop in today's meeting,and start in the second week of October if adopted Participants and facilitatore.g. The team's 8 people (facilitator: ____)October 3, 15:00-16:00 ② The six hats an... The idea White: facts & data Known facts and numbers only. e.g. The standup is 60 min weekly with 8 people Red: feelings & gut Feelings with no reason needed. e.g. A bit uneasy without meeting face to face Black: risk & concerns Reasons it could fail and cautions. e.g. Urgent asks would wait two weeks Yellow: benefits & value What improves and why. e.g. Frees two hours a month for eight people Green: ideas & alternatives Other options or improvements. e.g. Keep it weekly but cut to 30 minutes Blue: process & summary Check the order, time, and wrap-up. e.g. Confirm what moves to board⑤ and what is still unanswered 1. White hat, 5 minShare only facts and numbers, no good or bad judgment. e.g. Two things were decided at last month's standup 2. Yellow hat, 5 minShare only the idea's benefits. Save objections for later 3. Black hat, 5 minShare only risks and concerns, including pushback on the benefits from yellow 4. Green hat, 5 minSuggest fixes or alternatives that ease the black-hat concerns. e.g. Add a 15-minute slot for urgent questions 5. Red hat, 2 minEveryone says one word about how they feel now, no reason needed 6. Blue hat, 3 minThe facilitator reviews all six hats' input, and everyone confirms what moves to board⑤ and what is still unanswered Opinion 1 Opinion 2 Opinion 3 White: facts e.g. The standup is 60 minutes weekly with 8 people e.g. Only two things were decided at last month's standup e.g. There is no habit yet of posting progress in chat Yellow: benefits e.g. Frees two hours a month for eight people e.g. Cuts the agenda-prep workload in half e.g. Posting in chat leaves a record Black: risks e.g. Urgent asks would wait two weeks until the next standup e.g. Some people would stop posting progress in chat e.g. New hires get fewer chances to ask questions Green: alternatives e.g. Idea B: keep it weekly but cut to 30 minutes e.g. Idea D: drop the standup and use chat only e.g. Idea C: add a 15-minute slot on off weeks Red: feelings e.g. Honestly, the free time feels great e.g. A bit uneasy without meeting face to face e.g. Worried about how new hires are doing Blue: summary e.g. Move the first black and first green item to board⑤ e.g. Compare the original idea (A) with ideas B-D in board⑥ e.g. Decide today, in this meeting Opinions worth noting (up to 2 per person, from④)e.g. Urgent asks would wait two weeks (black)e.g. Keep it weekly but cut to 30 minutes (green) Things to ask more about (and who to ask)e.g. Do new hires ask questions at the standup?-> Ask the new hires themselves after the meeting Comments that broke the hat's rolee.g. An objection raised during yellow-> Move it to the black row instead 3/4 Choose adopt, hol... → 4/4 4/4 Put the decision ... 縦軸: Benefit (low ... e.g. Idea A: go every other week. Re-evaluate once the black-hat concerns are addressed e.g. Idea B: cut it to 30 minutes weekly. Avoids most of the black-hat concerns e.g. Idea D: drop the standup and use chat only e.g. Idea C: the 15-minute slot. Not urgent, can add it later Move ideas, or parts of ideas, placed in "adopt candidates" in⑥ e.g. Idea B: cut the standup to 30 minutes weekly e.g. Write progress in a fixed 3-line format (an add-on to idea B) e.g. Finish in 15 minutes on weeks with no agenda Move ideas placed in "hold candidates" in⑥ e.g. Idea A: go every other week e.g. Idea C: add a 15-minute slot on off weeks e.g. Set up a separate Q&A time for new hires Move ideas placed in "drop candidates" in⑥, and keep them instead of deleting e.g. Idea D: drop the standup and use chat only e.g. Rotate who takes the minutes each time e.g. Record every meeting for later viewing Decision summary (date decided)e.g. Adopted idea B, held ideas A and C,dropped idea D (decided October 3) The opinion that tipped the decisione.g. Idea B avoids the black-hat point from④,"urgent asks would wait two weeks" Why it was helde.g. Idea A is on hold because it is not yetclear if the chat-progress habit will stick Task Owner Deadline How to check Task 1 e.g. Rebuild the standup agenda for 30 minutes e.g. Facilitator e.g. By October 8 e.g. The agenda is shared by the day before Task 2 e.g. Set and share the 3-line progress format e.g. Team lead e.g. By October 8 e.g. Everyone wrote their first progress update Task 3 e.g. Finish in 15 minutes on weeks with no agenda e.g. Facilitator e.g. From October 10 e.g. Log the meeting length every time Task 4 e.g. Ask participants for feedback after one month e.g. HR staff e.g. November 7 e.g. At least half rate satisfaction 3 or higher (of 5) 1. Meeting dayShare the decision from⑩ and the table from⑪ with everyone. e.g. Post it in chat within 30 minutes after the meeting 2. Week 1Owners start the tasks in⑪ and post any trouble in chat that same week 3. Weeks 2-3Check progress with the method in⑪. e.g. Review the log of meeting lengths 4. Next meetingOwners report results, and the team decides to keep, fix, or stop The next idea to evaluatee.g. The idea of adding a Q&A time for new hires (from⑧) Revisiting the idea on holde.g. On November 7, check if the chat-progress habit stuck,and run idea A through Six Thinking Hats again What to change next timee.g. Extend the black hat to 7 minutese.g. Add a 1-minute red hat at the start too → 2/4 Share views by hat ↙ 3/4 Choose adopt, hol... → 4/4 Put the decision ...
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Task board contents

Preparing 16 items

Pick idea to review
Share views by hat
Sort adopt/hold/drop
Put plan into action
Write idea and goal
Learn the six hats
Set order and time
Fill in the hat grid
Pick key opinions
List open questions
Plot benefit vs risk
Split into 3 groups
Write the reasons
Set tasks and owners
Move it forward
Pick the next idea

Sharing opinions 0 items

Judging 0 items

Acting 0 items

Done 0 items

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