Six Thinking Hats Retrospective

Six thinking hats is a tool for structuring a discussion to make the process more efficient. The method was developed by Dr. Edward de Bono, a proponent of teaching critical thinking in schools. Dr. de Bono is credited with inventing the term lateral thinking, an approach to problem solving that encourages thinking about the problem in a creative, non-traditional manner.

Six thinking hats segments different aspects of a discussion into pre-defined parts called hats. The hats, which are represented by different colors, can be thought of as imaginary thinking caps. As the discussion progresses, the facilitator urges the participants to change their imaginary hats and the direction of the conversation. The hats focus the discussion and limit the risk of wasting time with off-topic discussions, arguing and wheel spinning.

Because one of the goals of six thinking hats is to use meeting time productively, it can be a very useful tool for agile and scrum meetings.