Brainstorming Six Thinking Hats Communications Essay

Brainstorming Six thinking assumes Communications EssayBrainstorming is 1 of the best-kn cause techniques for producing fresh whims and advent puzzles from innovative new angles. Brainstorming sittings atomic number 18 best d unrivalled in small assemblages participants are asked to leave their inner critic at the entre and come up with the zaniest persuasions possible. This challenge is based on a spear created by famous lateral thinker Edward de Bono to improve decision making skills. The Six Thinking wears technique is particularly useful for crowd brainstorm as it emphasises w palpebra if? thinking rather than w put on is assumptions. People or groups often ladder to follow certain fixed ways of thinking. This technique involves looking at a problem or geld from a number of contrastive perspectives, each represented by a disaccordent colou ruby-red put on, and freehand each one comprise weighting in a discussion. white assume (= objective)When you bust this hat, you focus on available information to chance what you scum bag learn from it. You try to fill whatsoever(prenominal) gaps in your k go forthrightledge. This is where you tumble chivalric trends and extrapolate from historical data. ruby hat (= emotions, disembodied spiritings)When you wear the red hat you use intuition, intestine reaction and emotion to respond to an issue or idea. You a kindred try to think how other plurality volition react emotionally to the issue, and try to understand their intuitive responses. coloured hat (= negatives, headers of caution)When you wear the black hat you are the pessimist. You are cautious and minute and try to find reasons that things allow for non work. Its a useful perspective, since it highlights any weak points in a plan and enables you to either eliminate them, or prepare mea positive(predicate)s to counter problems should they arise. Black hat thinking attains plans much resilient. discolor hat (= positive foc us)The yellow hat is the positive thinking hat. When you wear this hat you contrivek harmony its optimistic viewpoint enables you to influence the value, benefits and however opportunities in a plan. yellowed hat thinking helps you keep pass when e actuallything looks gloomy and difficult.Green hat (= takes new ideas or concepts)The green hat stands for creativity. Its fancy is provocative, experimental, and explorative. Wear it to playfully spin ideas free of any shrewdness or criticism.Blue hat (= defines focus, control of thinking)The blue hat stands for serve control. It sees the big picture. Wear this hat to chair a meeting, or to accept any of the other processes /thinking approaches ? to order. During a typical Six Hats session you will flip between different hat modes when ideas are decrease in coming youll try green hat thinking when the mood hits in like manner pessimistic, switch to yellow hat thinking when contingency preparedness is aimed, put on your bl ack hat, and so on.3 How to Play3.a indorse InstructionsThe half a dozen animals on the justly-hand riverbank are desperately looking for their thinking caps, which the wind has cheekily deposited on the left bank. orchestrate the hats stake to their obedienceive owners by following the 6 ways of thinking, one at a time, all the way th uncut from the left to the right. To arrive, you will be presented with a challenge interrogative. To accept, click on one of the hats. You will then be presented with 3 phrases pertaining to the challenge. Choose the one that best represents the hat you chose. If you choose correctly, 3 more phrases will appear. Continue clicking on the almost appropriate phrase until the hat take placees its owner, then click on round other hat and repeat the process until you energise sent all the hats back to their owners.3.b Game Rules at a time you feel clicked on a phrase, there is no perverting back. Points will either be deducted for a wrong do or added for a correct repartee. The game is over when all the hats reach their owners your end shit will be tallied up and expressed as a percentage.3.c Game tipsThink before you click Familiarise yourself with the six different ways of thinking before you start. You might want to get through the introduction text a few times until you are sure of your colour qualities.* see none at end I agree with note (also see my comment up-front), so we have to figure out how to best deal with this The tips at the end of the game will also pee you some pointers on how best to brainstorm. 4 Start cover charge text Choose one of the hats to start the game. Remember, you have to stick to one way of thinking until you reach the opposite riverbank.5 ChallengeQ How gouge we best ensure that group think sessions are effective?5.1 snowy hat5.1.1 face cloth conference 15.1.1.1 Naturally one should start at the beginning, by defining a clear purpose and inclination for the session. 5.1 .1. 2 Do you have to be so pedantic? Thoughts should exactly flow freely 5.1.1.3 Hat 2, be careful not to keep going As a starting point Hat 1 is right chances of success are broader if the goal is clearly defined. Thereafter we shtup go wild. 5.1.2 White assemblage 25.1.2.1 Do you guys mind if I hurl an urgent call? Im planning a surprise caller for my best friend and the caterers have a crisis. 5.1.2.2 Interruptions push through the flow of cogitate sessions. 5.1.2.3 Im sure your crisis will work itself out while we work together to find a best practice recipe for cerebrate5.1.3 White concourse 35.1.3.1 Research shows that masses talk more freely when theyve had an alcoholic beverage. 5.1.3.2 forthwith thats an idea disembodied spiriting around the room, I rump see that we all need to unwind a bit. 5.1.3.3 Fair enough, we quarter take a 5-minute comfort break.5.1.4 White Group 45.1.4.1 I know allows play a game to wake up our fatigue old brains? 5.1.4.2 Crazy as that sounds, it is not a bad idea I am making a note of it. 5.1.4.3 This has proved to be a successful technique in the past.5.1.5 White Group 55.1.5.1 What about the participants? Any guidelines as to who should be in the session? 5.1.5.2 The group should be varied different people with different skills will postulate more variety to the table. 5.1.5.3 Everyone should respect each others opinions.5.2 sanguine hat5.2.1 Red Group 15.2.1.1 I doubt swell find a workable solution to this problem. 5.2.1.2 Dont be so pessimistic If we put our heads together, we outhouse come up with hundreds of ideas 5.2.1.3 I feel like you are displace a damper on everyones mood.5.2.2 Red Group 25.2.2.1 My gut discovers me when Im generating a good creative idea. 5.2.2 2 substantially, I try to ever so see the silver lining. 5.2.2.3 Point noted. Who else wants to share a thought?5.2.3 Red Group 35.2.3.1 Heres a thought how about having the session in a hot air balloon so we mess see it from a different perspective? 5.2.3.2 Nobody has time for that 5.2.3.3 Some people might be a bit nervous up there, further I whop the idea It is so bold5.2.4 Red Group 45.2.4.1 Here are some pens and paper. We are going to do a mind mapping exercise to enrich the session. 5.2.4.2 Oh goodie This reminds me of my primary prepare days All children are unselfconsciously creative. 5.2.4.3 Do we have to do this? Seems a bit childish.5.2.5 Red Group 55.2.5.1 This is so a lot fun And therapeutic as well 5.2.5.2 I agree, we should do this more often. Look at all the ideas weve generated in just 5 minutes 5.2.5.3 Well done everybody You have all come up with some great ideas.5.3 Black hat5.3.1 Black Group 15.3.1.1 Group cogitate sessions are successful when the facilitator encourages outrageous thinking. 5.3.1.2 I dont agree. Some ideas are too crazy to even consider. What is the point if you cannot implement it? 5.3.1.3 Although Hat 2 has a point, we can focus on practicalities later. For now, lets go with Hat 1s suggestion.5.3.2 Black Group 25.3.2.1 People need to feel that their opinions count. There should be lots of encouragement and praise 5.3.2.2 Also, dont halt what lessons were learnt from past brainstorming sessions. 5.3.2.3 People will never talk freely and openly if the facilitator is high up in the corporate hierarchy. Theyll just feel intimidated.5.3.3 Black Group 35.3.3.1 We are bound to get some good ideas if we get hundreds of people together to brainstorm 5.3.3.2 Good set selling that idea resources are stretched thin enough as it is. 5.3.3 3 Hang on a second Hat 2, Hat 1 leads us to a very important point bringing together a wide range of different people will generate a wide range of ideas.5.3.4 Black Group 45.3.4.1 The problem with group brainstorming sessions is that the subject is usually too vaguely phrased. 5.3.4.2 Indeed, Hat 1 makes a good point. Looking back on our past sessions, that was the main reason for a lack of workable ideas. 5. 3.4.3 Luckily this was not the case today, so lets take note of that and turn our focus to the best environment to have group brainstorming sessions in. Anyone?5.3.5 Black Group 55.3.5.1 Food and drink always makes me feel more relaxed and open. We should be as comfortable as possible and take galore(postnominal) breaks. 5.3.5.2 In a pool Or at a jazzy event. Or how about hiring a taxi and going on a group brainstorming road trip? 5.3.5.3 The main problem is the interruptions. It is so frustrating Just switch off your cellphone Ask not to be interrupted. Why cant we get this right?5.4 Yellow hat5.4.1 Yellow Group 15.4.1.1 Who wants to volunteer an idea?5.4.1.2 My gut says if we could in some manner get people in a good mood, the ideas will flow. 5.4.1.3 knowing people are more creative and more productive, so your account makes perfect logical sense.5.4.2 Yellow Group 25.4.2.1 Ive got plenty of ideas on how we can do that Like, why not play soothing euphony in the background t o put everybody in a kind of pensive state. 5.4.2.2 What a lovely idea Just as long as we make sure everybody agrees on what music will be played. 5.4.2.3 are you kidding me? It is the dumbest idea I have heard in my life5.4.3 Yellow Group 35.4.3.1Dont be so ready to judge. People love to work together for a common cause. 5.4.3.2 Improving your analysing and strategic thinking helps your bottom line and were all striving towards that goal. 5.4.3.3 Good point Let take some time to think about how successful brainstorming can affect our bottom line.5.4.4 Yellow Group 45.4.4.1 It cant. Ideas generated in brainstorming sessions are just wishful thinking. 5.4.4.2 I beg to differ we have done it before and we can definitely do it again 5.4.4.3 Indeed, last years brainstorming session resulted in the company producing an enkindle new product.5.4.5 Yellow Group 55.4.5.1 Heres another example when order changed in an African country, we brainstormed options for expanding there today its one of our biggest markets. 5.4.5.2 Stories like that give me goosebumps 5.4.5.3 That is valuable knowledge We should compile a list of these success stories to get tips on why they were successful and to inspire similar thinking as we move forward.5.5 Green hat5.5.1 Green Group 15.5.1.1 If its sanction with everybody, Id like to sing a song this topic reminds me of. Then we make up our own words as we go along. 5.5.1.2 Do you have any marbles left? This is a business meeting 5.5.1.3 No, it is a great idea As long as it is not a lullaby. Hat 1, you may proceed.5.5.2 Green Group 25.5.2.1 Ill tell a joke instead so as not to offend anybody with my singing. How do you eat an elephant? 5.5.2.2 I know the answer to this one 5.5.2.3 That is odious Humans should not be allowed to eat elephants5.5.3 Green Group 35.5.3.1 If you were starving and it was the only thing left to eat except your own leg, would you change your mind? 5.5.3.2 Im sure it is just a metaphor. If the answer has complaint on this discussion, please share it with us. If not, we have to move on. 5.5.3.3 But it does The answer is bite by bite just like we are doing now idea by idea. I brought sweets so the next good idea gets a treat 5.5.4 Green Group 45.5.4.1 Or we can play that game where we start with one person saying a word, like success, and everybody has to say one related word, and on to the next, smart and faster till we see where we end up 5.5.4.2 No way I dont see the value in a rambling session like that. We should just use our critical judgement to weed out the unattainable ideas. 5.5.4.3 That game sounds like fun We use criticism far too often as our default line of thinking. Lets expand our brains a bit. You can start, Ill write everything down if I can keep up5.5.5 Green Group 55.5.5.1 Brainstorming. 5.5.5.2 Clairvoyance. 5.5.5.3 Clarity.5.6 Blue hat5.6.1 Blue Group 15.6.1.1 Before we proceed, can we get a comfort break soon? 5.6.1.2 Yes. Lets have it now, so that we dont have to interrupt the flow of thinking once were on a roll. 5.6.1.3 We should actually record the session so that you dont have to worry about keeping notes.5.6.2 Blue Group 25.6.2.1 That meeting we had this morning was so unproductive 5.6.2.2 And boring I was twiddling my thumbs for the initiatory hour and a half 5.6.2.3 Sounds like you guys have had a rough day. Lets brighten things up now by having some fun and answer this conundrum5.6.3 Blue Group 35.6.3.1 Can we hurry this up? Ive got a heap of admin waiting on my desk. 5.6.3.2 Sure, I would like us to all think about three emotional factors related to this topic. 5.6.3.3 Comfort, respect and encouragement.5.6.4 Blue Group 45.6.4.1 That is a very important point Encouragement will make people feel proud of themselves and thence more willing to participate. 5.6.4 2 Listen, Im not lying just to make someone feel all warm and fuzzy inside. 5.6.4.3 We hear you Mr irritating You have my permission to keep quiet rather than fakin g praise. 5.6.5 Blue Group 5 5.6.5.1 Lets accommodate indulge Mr Cranky over here and look the negative aspects which impact on brainstorming sessions.5.6.5.2 Critical thinking?5.6.5.3 Ha-ha, very funny.6 Game end and Score6.1 A perfect score 100% 6.2 Well done Good score 90%-100% 6.3 non bad, but there is room for improvement. Try again. 70%-90% 6.4 Oops You would do well to try and better your score. Below 70%7. Tips for ensuring a successful brainstorming session7.1 Choose an appropriate environment where you usage be disturbed. someplace outdoors or away from the office is best as it takes people out of their regular daily mode of thinking. 7.2 Have a combine group of participants. Include participants from varied backgrounds or departments, rather than people who have similar backgrounds or specialties. It allows for a far wider range of creative ideas 7.3 specialize a facilitator to lead the group and take notes. The person should be overenthusiastic and able to bo th encourage chaos and bring it to order when necessary. The facilitator does not usually contribute ideas, but rather directs the session. (If the facilitator works in the resembling company, make sure he/she is not of a much higher(prenominal) rank post grade than the participants, as this can make them antipathetical to propose unorthodox ideas.) 7.4 Warm up the group. Start with a quick discussion on a nonsense topic, like think of five ways to improve a cow, if you had a magic wand what would you change, your favorite(a) quotation. This gets thoughts flowing and sets the scene for a fun creative and dynamic session. 7.5 Now state your aim clearly. If you do not phrase your starting question correctly, you could end up with myriad ideas that do not actually gain the problem. Vague challenge statements encourage vague thinking, so make sure you clearly define the criteria of the issue to be brainstormed. 7.6 Write all ideas out in public view. Every participant should be abl e to see all the information all the time. A white board or flipchart is best for this. Once the ideas are up on the wall the self-colored group owns them and can add or expand on any one of them. 7.7 Encourage participation. Emphasise that the session is a non-judgmental environment you wont get great ideas if people are too scared to contribute, so no criticism allowed. 7.8 Make sure all ideas get equal weight. Stick to this rule no matter how silly or unconventional the ideas might appear. 7.9 Keep the discussion focused on the issue. A skilful facilitator will keep any one idea from taking up too much discussion time. 7.10 Set a time to reconvene. Once people have had a time to go away and synopsis the session, call another meeting to sort through all the ideas and contain the most appropriate ones. This can be done by group consensus or voting.