six-thinking-hats · diff
v2026.5.18 to v2026.10.5
49 added, 110 removed. Audit A to A.
---
name: six-thinking-hats
description: >
- Use this skill when the user asks for six thinking hats, parallel thinking, or
- Edward de Bono's method (including naming any of these or directing
- use/apply/run with obvious misspellings; decisive)—or wants a sequential,
- six-role thinking partner for one focus—keeping facts, feelings, risks,
- benefits, and new ideas in separate passes instead of one mixed reply. Use for
- structured brainstorms, decisions, or reviews when they ask for hat-by-hat
- analysis or name the method or author, even if phrasing is casual or incomplete.
- Skip for plain factual questions, execution-only implementation with no
- structured perspective pass, or one-off hot takes and single-angle verdicts
- where they do not want a fixed, hat-by-hat sequence across six roles.
+ Use for Six Thinking Hats or de Bono's parallel thinking, or when a decision or idea needs facts, gut feel, risks, benefits and new options kept apart: "look at this from all sides", "full perspective check". Skip for plain factual questions or single-angle hot takes.
license: MIT
metadata:
author: ysskrishna
- version: "2026.5.18"
+ version: "2026.10.5"
---
# Six Thinking Hats
- **Six Thinking Hats** (Edward de Bono) is a **parallel thinking** method for a single **focus question**. Rather than mixing logic, emotion, optimism, and critique in one back-and-forth, the thinker or group takes **six complementary roles in sequence**, all wearing the “same hat” at each step. That keeps facts, gut reactions, risks, upsides, and new ideas from talking past each other.
-
- Each hat’s meaning, constraints, and bullet formats are defined once in **[The Hats](#the-hats)**; the closing **Blue** pass is in **[Blue Synthesis](#blue-synthesis)**.
-
- **How to run it with this skill:** one hat per section, clearly labelled; never mix two hats in the same section; always close with **Blue synthesis** that integrates earlier hats and adds **no** new facts, risks, ideas, or recommendations beyond what those hats produced.
-
- ---
+ Edward de Bono's **parallel thinking**: everyone wears the same hat at the same time, so facts, feelings, risks, benefits and new ideas stop arguing inside one reply. One **focus question**, six roles in sequence.
- ## Setup (run before starting)
+ ## When to use
- Before executing hats, establish in one short block:
+ - A decision, plan or idea where the user keeps mixing "what is true", "how I feel", "what could break" and "what could be great".
+ - The user names the method, de Bono, or asks for a hat-by-hat pass.
+ - A brainstorm or review that needs structure and a closing synthesis.
- 1. **Focus question** — one sentence
- 2. **Mode** — which hat set (see table below); default: Full
- 3. **Depth** — how much detail per hat (see table below); default: Standard
- 4. **Hat order** — list the sequence you'll follow
+ Skip: factual lookups, execution-only work, quick opinions where the user does not want six separate passes.
- If critical information is missing, ask at most 3 questions in one message, then proceed. Note any remaining gaps or working guesses in plain language (no bracket tags in Setup).
+ ## Before you start
- ---
+ 1. Open with a short **Blue (open)** block: focus question (one sentence), mode, hat order. This block is the opening Blue pass; do not print a second opening section.
+ 2. **Gather first.** If you can read files, search or run queries, do it before filling White. Ask up to 3 questions only for what tools cannot answer, then proceed and note gaps in plain words.
+ 3. **Light path.** Small ask: 2 bullets per hat, 3-bullet synthesis. Otherwise 3 bullets per hat; add detail only when the user asks for depth.
## Modes
- | Mode | Hats | Use for |
- |------|------|---------|
- | **Full** (default) | Blue → White → Red → Black → Yellow → Green → Blue | Broad decisions, full-spectrum reasoning |
- | **Creative** | Blue → Green → Yellow → Red → Blue | Idea generation; skips Black to avoid premature criticism |
- | **Risk** | Blue → White → Black → Blue | Risk scans and failure prevention |
- | **Decision** | Blue → White → Black → Yellow → Blue | Go/no-go decisions; skips Red and Green |
- | **Custom** | User-defined + Blue at end | User-directed; confirm order before starting |
-
- Custom mode: only the six standard hats are allowed. Blue synthesis is always required at the end — add it silently if the user omits it.
-
- ---
-
- ## Depth
-
- | Depth | Bullets per hat | Style |
- |-------|----------------|-------|
- | **Quick** | 2 | Concise; synthesis collapses to 3 bullets |
- | **Standard** (default) | 3 | Balanced detail |
- | **Deep Dive** | 4–5 | Examples, edge cases, explicit assumptions |
-
- ---
-
- ## The Hats
-
- ### 🔵 Blue — Process
- Runs twice: once to open (Setup), once to close (Synthesis). Blue only frames and synthesises — it never introduces new facts, risks, ideas, or recommendations.
-
- ### ⚪ White — Facts
- Data, evidence, gaps. No interpretation.
-
- Label every bullet:
- - `[KNOWN]` — verifiable fact from user or reliable context
- - `[ASSUMED]` — working assumption; flag it
- - `[UNKNOWN]` — missing information that limits confidence
-
- ### 🔴 Red — Emotions
- Gut reactions, enthusiasm, resistance, intuition.
-
- - User-stated emotions: pass through verbatim, labeled **stated**
- - Inferred emotions: use hypothetical language ("might", "could", "may") — never assert as fact
+ | Mode | Hat order | Use for |
+ |------|-----------|---------|
+ | **Full** (default) | Blue, White, Red, Black, Yellow, Green, Blue | Broad decisions |
+ | **Creative** | Blue, Green, Yellow, Red, Blue | Idea generation (no early criticism) |
+ | **Risk** | Blue, White, Black, Blue | Risk scans, failure prevention |
+ | **Decision** | Blue, White, Black, Yellow, Blue | Go / no-go |
+ | **Custom** | User's order, then closing Blue | Only the six standard hats; confirm the order, and state in the order line that the closing Blue was added if the user left it out |
- ### ⚫ Black — Risks
- Failure modes and weaknesses.
+ ## The hats
- Every bullet format:
- > **Risk:** [specific failure mode] — **Mitigation:** [concrete action]
+ Never mix two hats in one section.
- ### 🟡 Yellow — Value
- Benefits and opportunities.
+ **Blue: process.** Frames and synthesizes. Never adds new facts, risks, ideas or recommendations.
- Every bullet format:
- > **Benefit:** [concrete upside] — **Condition:** [what must hold for this to materialise]
+ **White: facts.** Data, evidence, gaps. No interpretation. Tag every bullet:
+ - `[KNOWN]` verifiable from the user or a reliable source
+ - `[ASSUMED]` working assumption
+ - `[UNKNOWN]` missing information that limits confidence
- ### 🟢 Green — Creativity
- Alternatives, novel options, reframes. Generate only — no evaluation here.
+ **Red: feelings.** Gut reactions, enthusiasm, resistance. User-stated emotions pass through verbatim, marked **stated**. Inferred emotions use "might" or "could", never asserted as fact.
- Produce **one distinct option per bullet**, using the same **bullets-per-hat**
- count as the **Depth** table for the chosen level (Quick: 2, Standard: 3,
- Deep Dive: 4–5).
+ **Black: risks.** Each bullet: **Risk:** specific failure mode, **Mitigation:** concrete action.
- When stuck, use a forcing tactic: reversal, analogy, or constraint removal.
+ **Yellow: value.** Each bullet: **Benefit:** concrete upside, **Condition:** what must hold.
- ---
+ **Green: new options.** One distinct option per bullet. Generate only; no evaluation. When stuck, use reversal, analogy or constraint removal.
- ## Blue Synthesis
+ ## Blue synthesis (closing)
- A **tension** is where one hat's finding pulls against another's (e.g. a Yellow benefit only holds if a Black risk is mitigated).
+ A **tension** is where one hat pulls against another (for example a Yellow benefit that holds only if a Black risk is mitigated). Use only what the hats produced.
- **Standard synthesis shape:**
1. Top tension
- 2. Second tension (if present)
- 3. Recommendation — grounded only in what the hats produced
- 4. Next step (with owner/timeframe if known)
-
- **Quick synthesis shape (3 bullets):**
- 1. Key tension (merged if multiple)
- 2. Recommendation
- 3. Next step
+ 2. Second tension, if any
+ 3. Recommendation, grounded in the hats
+ 4. Next step, with owner and timeframe if known
- After synthesis, ask the user whether to iterate, expand a specific hat, or stop.
+ Light path: key tension, recommendation, next step. Then ask whether to iterate, expand one hat, or stop.
- ---
+ ## Pitfalls
- ## Execution Rules
+ - Black hat leaking into Green ("but that would never work"). Park it for the Black pass.
+ - Red hat filled with analysis. Red is a reaction, not a reason.
+ - Blue synthesis that slips in a new idea. Move it back to Green or drop it.
+ - User anchored on one lens (only complaining or only excited): name it and lead with the contrasting hat.
- 1. Produce all hats in one response unless the user requests interactive pacing (one hat per message, pause between each).
- 2. Keep hat sections clearly separated — never blend two hats in one section.
- 3. Blue never adds new content in synthesis; it only draws from what the hats produced.
- 4. If the user is anchored to one lens (only complaining, only optimistic), name it and route to the contrasting hat.
+ Worked example: [references/example.md](references/example.md).
- ---
+ ## Checklist
- ## Checklist (verify before responding)
+ - [ ] Blue (open) block: focus, mode, hat order
+ - [ ] Hats run in the declared order, one section each
+ - [ ] White bullets tagged; Black has Risk + Mitigation; Yellow has Benefit + Condition
+ - [ ] Red: inferred emotions hedged, stated emotions verbatim
+ - [ ] Green: one option per bullet, no evaluation
+ - [ ] Closing Blue adds nothing new
- - [ ] Setup block present with focus question, mode, depth, and hat order
- - [ ] Mode and depth defaulted explicitly if not specified by user
- - [ ] Hats executed in declared order, one section per hat
- - [ ] White: every bullet has `[KNOWN]`, `[ASSUMED]`, or `[UNKNOWN]`
- - [ ] Black: every bullet has **Risk** and **Mitigation**
- - [ ] Yellow: every bullet has **Benefit** and **Condition**
- - [ ] Red: inferred emotions use hypothetical language; stated emotions passed through verbatim
- - [ ] Green: option count matches depth; no evaluation mixed in
- - [ ] Blue synthesis present; no new content introduced