an interview with Julyan Lee

by Donald B. Ardell, Ph. D.

Julyan Lee works full-time for BellSouth in Atlanta but also conducts seminars and workshops as a management consultant for Optimo,Inc. He has worked in the field of organizational change since 1992, most recently with Alabama Power Company and The Southern Company. His writings have been published by the Center for the Study of Workteams; he has also been involved with WorkPlace Global Network team learning clusters in Australia. For more about Julyan, see http://www.optimo-inc.com or write him at Julyan.Lee@bellsouth.com or call him at (404)497-1477 or (770)355-2277.

I recently interviewed Julyan Lee after witnessing his performance at the Megaperformers Conference where he described a process called The Six Thinking Hats used by self-managers in business to help people break paradigms and think differently about organizational change.

The process looks at six discrete thinking styles. Participants are asked to "wear" six different metaphorical hats, in turn, with each representing markedly varied modes of thinking. The objective is for individuals to learn to switch modes of thinking at will, just as if they were putting on or taking off hats. In addition to being quite instructive, the process (at least under Julyan's direction) lends itself to lots of fun.

The six hats are described as follows, with drawings of top hats shown in the appropriate color:

Yellow Hat -- Why it will work. Optimism values and benefits. Positive and constructive.

Black Hat -- Why it will not work. Cautions, not argument, risk analysis. Points out dangers and potential problems.

Green Hat -- Possibilities, alternatives and new ideas. Creative thinking does not have to be logical. Movement replaces judgment.

Red Hat -- Feelings, hunches and intuition. Legitimizes emotions and feelings, fears, likes, dislikes, loves, and hates.

White Hat -- Information needed or known. Neutral and objective. Pure facts and figures. Identifies information that is missing. Never your own opinion.

Blue Hat -- Managing the thinking process. The "control" hat. Organizes the thinking. Sets the focus, calls for the use of other hats. Ensures that the rules are observed. Responsible for summaries, overviews, conclusions, and next steps.

By learning to switch modes of thinking (hats), individuals and teams are able to increase the empathy they need to lead shorter, more productive meetings, reduce conflict, spot potential problems, think creatively, and improve decision-making.

In areas of organizational or personal change, The Six Thinking Hats process allows individuals to see varied aspects of change as opposed to the one-dimensional mindset that drives most resistance to it. The Six Thinking Hats process allows them to better manage change by giving them a tool that modifies their thinking and, consequently, their behavior. As they glimpse multiple angles of a situation, people are less likely to exhibit turf protection, or adversarial interactions, which are counter-productive to initiatives. Movement replaces judgment and ego obstacles are lowered to enable higher performance.

In project management, the Six Thinking Hats is a great tool to bring innovation and a new way of thinking to the forefront when projects are initiated. The process helps individuals manage changes that must occur when new projects are implemented in an organization. New thinking skills that foster collaborative effort rather than perpetuate adversarial interactions could be the difference between success or failure in project implementation.

December 2000