Skip to main content

Solve complex problems with a Six Thinking Hats Mind Map

Solve complex problems with a Six Thinking Hats Mind Map

April 19th, 2017 by iMindMap


When it comes to solving problems, your perspective only provides one view of a situation, limiting creativity. The Six Thinking Hats technique encourages you to switch between thinking styles to consider a problem from different angles and generate a variety of ideas and possible solutions.
You may be familiar with this technique already, but have you tried it with Mind Mapping? A Mind Map’s outward radiating branches and keywords prompt you to make associations between your thoughts and generate more ideas. With an overview of your ideas, you will easily spot the gaps in your analysis and can devote more attention to those areas.
Adopt a thinking style one-by-one, adding to your Mind Map as you go. During this exercise, you will have to review previous sections to complete another. A Mind Map’s structure doesn’t require you to think ‘in order’, so you can jump back and forth to build on different areas when needed.
Let’s get started…

White Hat – Gather the facts

Start by gathering the information surrounding your problem and focus on the facts. Study the data that is available and see what you can learn from it. Do you need any additional information to help you find a solution to your problem? If so, attempt to find it or take account of it. It’s important to remain neutral and objective during this stage.

Red Hat – Listen to your instincts

Good ideas can stem from gut instincts, so for the next stage look at your problem using feelings and intuition. Don’t worry about justifying the way you feel towards the problem, just be aware of your immediate personal hunches, and how others will react to them.

Black Hat – Pick out the faults

For this stage, look at the negative aspects of a potential solution. Think about why it might not work and point out any possible problems. Highlighting the risks and weaknesses of the solution will help you decide whether to simply disregard it or amend it, leading to a stronger solution for your problem in the long run.

Yellow Hat – Focus on the benefits

During this stage, think positively and focus on the values and benefits of the possible solution. Think about how you can build on its advantages and explore why it would work. Adding a little optimism is especially helpful when things are looking a bit disappointing.

Green Hat – Get creative

This is the stage where you seek fresh, creative solutions to the problem (and Mind Mapping comes into its own). A Mind Map’s structure and one keyword per branch triggers associations in the brain, sparking new ideas that may have been invisible before. Take the output of the other stages and use it to trigger new possibilities and ideas; overthrow Black Hat problems and build on the beneficial aspects recognised in the Yellow Hat stage.

Blue Hat – Step back and evaluate

Focus on the thinking process itself during this stage. Determine what thinking is needed to progress; if you’re struggling to generate ideas, aim your attention towards Green Hat thinking. If a contingency plan is needed, target Black Hat thinking. Create a summary to round things off.
Hint: For bigger problems, you might want to create a Mind Map for each thinking hat.
The great thing about the Six Thinking Hats technique is that it triggers your mind into action, forcing it to think differently and consider ideas outside of your norm. Combined with the associative nature of Mind Mapping, you’ll have an abundance of information to build on for the best possible solution for your problem.

Md. Nasir Khan
Director
Central Academic Research & Development
(CARD), Manipur Creative School
ThinkBuzan Licensed Instructor
MindMap, iMindMap, MemorySkills,
SpeedReading & CreativeTeaching
: @smart_nasirkhan
: @nasirkhanlive
:9612016722
https://thinknasir.blogspot.in
Location: Kwakta, Ukhatampak, Manipur 795133, India

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

3 ways to get more done with less time & less stress

3 ways to get more done with less time & less stress April 4th, 2013 by iMindMap Getting organised with Mind Maps The past two decades have seen meteoric advances in the way we communicate and work; with emails, Facebook, SMS, Twitter, Skype, Ping, blogs, feeds and a vast array of other indispensable forms of ‘connecting’ and absorbing information. With such resources at our disposal productivity should be soaring, shouldn’t it? But whilst the world is now at your fingertips, you are, unfortunately, equally within reach of the world. Using Mind Maps can help you to cut out that background noise and is proven to improve productivity by 20% – that means you can gain an extra working day every week! Here are 3 ways to get started in your productivity overhaul using iMindMap… 1. Plan Your Day This practice will take you just 5 minutes at the start of the day, and can end up saving you a lot of time and hassle. Begin with your Central Idea as today and create a main bra...
Post a Comment
Read more

7 ways to use iMindMap as a teacher

www.thinkbuzan.com December 2nd, 2014 by iMindMap Teaching effectively centres around the ability to plan and deliver effective, engaging lessons throughout the entire school year. As a teacher, we know that time is often in short supply, and so here are seven ways in which  iMindMap  can help you find a little bit more of it, by improving your lesson planning, preparation and delivery. 1. Curriculum Planning Mind Mapping your curriculum plans can save you time, as well as vastly improve the structure and clarity of your teaching. Having a visual overview of your plan will also allow you to easily spot the gaps where you have forgotten something, ensuring you have everything covered. A good place to start is by brainstorming ideas. With iMindMap’s  Brainstorm View* , you can add everything about a topic to the infinite cork-board canvas. Type away on the coloured sticky notes and group your ideas together. When you have finished, select the Mind Map Vie...
Post a Comment
Read more

Mind Mapping for Memory: Why is it useful?

April 29th, 2013 by iMindMap In this guest post, Thomas Jones, a Psychology student who spent some time working with us at the ThinkBuzan Headquarters, applies his know-how to Mind Mapping and the cognitive processes and theories behind the technique… Mind mapping is one of the most powerful tools in anyone’s arsenal when it comes to remembering vast quantities of information; it provides the user with their own personal tree of knowledge on a subject of their choice. Semantic Network Model One of the ideas behind Mind Maps is Semantic Network Models (Collins & Quillian, 1969) which says that everyone has their own personal spider’s web, connecting everything they know about objects together, e.g. Red is connected to fire, blood, love. If one section of the networking models is activated, the surrounding links are activated. Our own personal experiences shape these connections and everybody’s semantic network models are different. Mind Mapping takes a certain subject an...
Post a Comment
Read more