For centuries (since the GG3) we have esteemed argument and debate as the best way of exploring a subject. We use the system in parliament. We use the system in the law courts. In fact argument is an extremely crude, primitive and inefficient way of exploring a subject.

In a court of law if the prosecuting lawyer thinks of a point which would help the defence case, is that lawyer going to put the point forward? Of course not. If the defence lawyer thinks of a point that would help the prosecution, is that lawyer going to put forward the point? Of course not. It is not a matter of 'exploring the subject' but of 'case making'.

In argument you have to start out with a position or point of view. This may simply be disagreement with the other point of view, or a different point of view. You cannot argue without a position. In exploring a subject you explore first and reach a position at the end, not at the beginning. Having a position at the beginning leads to selective perception and seeing only what we want to see.

In argument all the energy goes into defending or attacking the starting positions. There is no effort to 'design' new possibilities.

Argument is all about 'win' and 'lose'. Argument is all about 'attack' and 'defend'. Egos and superiority are heavily involved.

But what can we do instead of argument?

There is 'parallel thinking'.

At every moment all parties are thinking in parallel and looking in the same direction.

The directions change so that the subject is explored from all angles. The directions are indicated at any one time by the use of one of six coloured 'hats'. The hats are symbolic.

Under the white hat everyone focuses on information. What information do we have? What information do we need? What information is missing? What questions do we want to ask? How are we going to get the information we need?

The red hat is to do with emotions, intuition and feelings. The red hat gives permission for these to be expressed without the need to justify them. The black hat is for caution, being careful and critical thinking.

The black hat assesses the dangers and what can go wrong. The black hat assesses whether something is right or wrong or fits existing information. The black hat is for negative judgement.

The yellow hat focuses on benefits and values. What are the benefits here? What are the positive points? The yellow hat is for positive judgement.

The green hat is for creativity. The green hat covers new ideas, alternatives, possibilities, modifications or an idea. Under the green hat everyone makes a creative effort. 'Possibilities' are a very key part of thinking.

The blue hat is for meta-cognition and the organization of thinking. The blue hat is like the conductor of an orchestra. The blue hat decides the focus. The blue hat puts together the outcome of the thinking. The blue sets the sequence of hats to be used.

The method is very simple. It is used by four year olds in schools. It is used by senior executives at some of the world's largest corporations.

MDS a company in Canada did a careful costing and showed that use of the Hats saved $20 million in the first year.

ABB in Finland used to take up to thirty days on their multi-national project discussions. Using the Hats they do in two days.

Statoil in Norway had a problem with an oil rig that was costing $100,000 a day. They had been thinking about it for some time. Then Jens Arup introduced the Six Hats. In twelve minutes they had a solution which saved them $10 million.

The results are very powerful for a very simple framework that is practical and easy to use. The results come about because everyone is using his or her full thinking capacity - instead of just waiting to attack what someone else says.

We have to ask: why has it taken two thousand four hundred years to come up with an alternative to argument?

There may indeed be occasions when argument is more suitable that exploration. But where genuine exploration is the intention then parallel thinking is simple, practical and effective.

Judgment And Design
The Classification Approach
The GG3
The Analysis Approach
The Design Approach
Perception
Teaching Creativity
Argument
Summary