How to wear all of the hats for better decision-making

Plus NO pop culture references, despite a lot of recent pop culture consumption. Probably for the best.

Hello and welcome to Academia Made Easier. I am so glad that you are here.

Some decisions are easy. Chocolate? Yes. Coffee? Yes, unless after 3 pm. Committee that meets at 8 am? Fuck no. But so many more decisions involve tradeoffs that can be tricky to think through. This is, in my experience, particularly so when I am already leaning one way or another. 

And team decision-making, with multiple people leaning this way and that, is even trickier. There is that person who is quick to point out everything that is negative about everything. (You know who you are!) And the one who gets excited about ideas quickly and wants to charge ahead immediately on the most recent idea they heard about. (Yes, you.)  And the one who jumps directly to planning timelines, resources, and individual responsibilities. (Ahem, hello…) All of these perspectives are needed, but when they are presented and discussed at the same time, it can be a bit chaotic.  

A few years ago, I learned about a tool that provides a bit more balance for my own decision-making and that provides more order to group deliberations. For individuals and groups alike, it is a model that ensures that important perspectives are not overlooked. As it is easy and (somewhat) fun, it is the topic of today’s small thing to try immediately. 

One Small Thing to Try Immediately: Put on your thinking hats

A few years ago, a colleague kept referring to his “black hat thinking” whenever he tore an idea apart. I had no idea what he was talking about (and was a bit annoyed at him constantly shitting over everything). Eventually, I became curious enough to consult my good buddy, Dr. Google. (I could have simply asked my colleague, but who wants to be that uncool? Besides, some of the ideas he was dumping on were mine!)

This is how I learned about Edward de Bono’s Six Thinking Hats technique. The basic idea is that we have six different thinking modes and it can be advantageous to use them independently rather than mixing them. de Bono identifies them by colours: white = facts; yellow = optimism; black = problems; green = creativity and innovation; red = feelings; blue = order. Check out my summary table. (I do love tables!)

Now I am enough of an academic to know that this is almost certainly a gross simplification (black hat!). But gross simplifications are sometimes useful (yellow hat!), so I decided to keep my mind open. I tried this approach in both my individual work and in team projects and sure enough, it can be a helpful tool. 

To use this individually, you try the following:

1. Identify the issue to be decided. Examples: Should I apply for grant X? Should I pursue project Y? Should I try teaching idea Z?

2. Determine the hat order. I always like to start with the white hat (objectivity) to separate facts from my opinions. If I am feeling excited about the idea, I follow it with the green hat (creativity) to get my ideas out. If I am feeling apprehensive, I move the black hat (caution) forward to get my worries out. I often like to end with the blue hat (control) because I enjoy planning. But there are no right or wrong answers here, so order them as you see fit.

3. Allocate at least 30 minutes to work through the process, with at least five minutes per hat. Set a timer and use pen and paper (old school!) to scribble out your thoughts for each hat. For example, what are the facts (white hat) about applying for the grant? Facts include when the grant application is due, how much time you have to devote to grant writing, what resources your university has for grant writing and administration, how much time you have for the project if the grant application is successful, and so forth. Write down every single objective thing that comes to mind over the allocated five minutes.

Undoubtedly, your brain will try to switch hats part way through (e.g., “The grant application may fail for reasons XY&Z” [black hat] or “I am excited about the project” [red hat]). Brains are annoying that way. Remind yourself to stay focused (e.g., “Those are red hat thoughts, so shut up and get back to the facts, kiddo” — or something more polite if your self-talk is nicer than mine). Once the timer goes, switch to the next hat on your list. Continue until you have covered all six hats.

4. Review what you wrote down for each hat. Add any other points that were missed. Get it all out on paper. (You can burn the paper later if you like.)

5. Use the information from all six hats to inform your decision.

To use this in a group, I have found the following works effectively:

1. In advance of the meeting, share with people the topic or question for group consideration as well as information on the thinking hats model. (Feel free to share this newsletter, a copy of my table above, or any of the many resources available on the internet).

2. Draft an agenda that provides an order to the hats and that allows for equal and sufficient time for each hat colour. Again, I start with the white hat (objectivity) to get everyone on the same page about what the facts are and to separate this out from people’s opinions. Beyond that, I order them according to my sense of where people are at. Lots of possibilities to be identified? Put the green hat (creativity) early in the process to tap into the great ideas. Lots of strong feelings about the issue? Cover the red hat (emotion) right away to get these out in the open — or move to the end to allow time for feelings to de-intensify over the discussion. Use your discretion — but make sure that all hats get the same amount of time and that none is rushed.

3. At the meeting, enforce the allotted thinking hats times. Let people know that when discussing the issue ‘wearing’ a particular hat, they are restricted to that hat. If, for example, the team is in yellow hat mode (optimism) and a colleague starts explaining why all of this is terrible (black hat — caution), respond with “thanks, I will make note of that for when we get to the black hat time. Now back to our optimistic yellow hat…”

4. At the end of the meeting, summarize what you heard with each hat. Allow people the opportunity to add any points that were missed.

5. Use the information from all six hats to inform your group decision.

To provide an example, here is a sample agenda for a three-person working group considering reimaging their graduate program design:

I have found the Six Thinking Hats approach to be a simple and effective technique to inform decision-making. If you try it, I would love to hear how you like it! 

Until next time…

We are at a point in the semester where everyone is busy, and still, you read my newsletter. Thank you! This newsletter is growing through word of mouth, so can you please share it with a colleague or two? I appreciate your help in growing my audience!

Stay well, my colleagues. 

P.S. In my agenda example, I used reimagining graduate programs as the discussion topic. If you are involved in graduate education (supervisor, graduate chair, student, or any other role), please be sure to check out my forthcoming book on the topic!  And if you aren’t involved in graduate education, please check it out anyways — my coauthors and I worked hard on it!

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