Six Thinking Hats Collaboration Board
For the same topic, capture notes under white, red, black, yellow, green and blue hats in turn so the group stays in one mode at a time. Optionally use the gray hat as a neutral evidence lane.
If you want to revisit the underlying model first, read theSix Thinking Hats model guideand then return here to run hat-based discussions for your topic.
To understand how Six Thinking Hats fits into a full decision chain and works together with tools like Socratic Questioning or Second-Order Thinking, visit theThinking Playbookspage.
Wear only one hat at a time. For the same topic, capture notes separately under white/red/black/yellow/green/blue hats to avoid mixing debate and creativity. Optionally enable the gray hat as a neutral evidence lane.
Enable gray hat (optional extension)?
The gray hat is not part of the classic six hats. You can treat it as an extra lane to capture neutral evidence, background information or items to verify.
White Hat – Facts & Information
Focus on data, facts and verifiable information without judgement.
Red Hat – Emotions & Intuition
Share gut feelings and emotional reactions without needing justification.
Black Hat – Risks & Cautions
Highlight risks, downsides and constraints with critical thinking.
Yellow Hat – Benefits & Value
Look for potential benefits, strengths and opportunities.
Green Hat – Ideas & Possibilities
Generate creative ideas, alternatives and combinations.
Blue Hat – Process & Next Steps
Organise the process, summarise conclusions and define next steps.
Quick Guide
- Start by stating the central question for this session in one sentence.
- Agree to wear only one hat at a time, e.g. start with white for facts, then switch together to red for feelings.
- Capture one idea per line so that black/yellow hats can respond to them individually later.
- Use the blue hat to summarise each round and capture conclusions and next steps in the blue lane.
Extended Strategies
Sample group session (around 45–60 minutes)
Spend 5 minutes clarifying the question and success criteria, then run white (facts), red (feelings), black (risks), yellow (benefits), green (ideas) and blue (summary) phases, 5–10 minutes each.
Classroom activity
Teachers can assign one hat to each group for a given topic (case, historical event, work review), then have the whole class switch to the blue hat to integrate conclusions.
Remote collaboration
In remote meetings, ask participants to only add notes under the current hat. The facilitator can screen-share this page and export PNG/PDF afterwards as part of the minutes.