‘So when emotions are high, people say things and do things they could very well regret later. True?’
EDWARD de Bono was a British creative thinking guru whose Six Thinking Hats techniques have a following around the world.
I was privileged to have met Dr. de Bono when he personally handed out certificates of completion of his Six Hats course way back in 1994 in Singapore. The training session was organized by Thinking Management Techniques, founded by spouses Peter and Linda Low, who became master trainers of De Bono’s methods.
In 1994, I became the first Filipino to have trained under De Bono himself and was certified as a trainer of the Six Hats method. That was 30 years ago, yet the logic of the method remains alive to me, a method of value to this day.
The Six Hats refers to six perspectives in approaching any issue. Blue is the hat that represents the perspective from above – from one overseeing the creative thinking process in a group to generate new ideas or solutions. The principal responsibility of the blue hatter is to make sure the hats are “properly” worn to achieve their maximum benefit.
White represents the need for information about whatever issue or problem one is trying to confront or contain.
Red refers to emotions – basically what one feels (without judgment) towards an issue, especially one that provokes deep or strong emotions. Like, should Rodrigo Duterte be tried abroad or here at home?
Note that a red hat emotion could either be positive or negative.
Black is the negative perspective. When worn, people are expected to enumerate as man negatives about the issue or proposal that they can think of.
In contrast, the yellow hat, when worn, asks what could be a silver lining or what could be good about the issue or proposal. Here, people are supposed to enumerate as many positives or good things they can think of about the matter at hand.
And finally, the Green hat – the hat under which the discussion seeks to find better or novel solutions that cancel out as much of the black hat points raised while keeping the yellow hat points viable. This is where the creative process should kick in.
Note that a red hat (emotion) can either be negative or positive. Either way, a strong emotional reaction blinds humans from seeing clearer. So a person so emotionally committed to someone or something will only see the good thing (yellow) and be blind to the negatives (black). In contrast, someone so emotionally opposed to a person or idea will only see black and not yellow.
And here’s one more thing: in my experience, emotions always trump logic. So when emotions are high, people say things and do things they could very well regret later. True?
So if there’s too much red in the room – or society – there will be too little of the green creative process that can move things forward.
And this is where we are today, as our citizenry discusses and debates the Duterte deliverance to the ICC. Which keeps us from making it a learning experience.
Too much red and not enough green.
