What do the six thinking hats stand for?

White for facts and information, Red for feelings and intuition, Black for caution and risks, Yellow for benefits and optimism, Green for creativity and new ideas, and Blue for managing the thinking process.

Who created the Six Thinking Hats?

Edward de Bono, a Maltese physician and author who also coined the term "lateral thinking". He introduced the method in his 1985 book Six Thinking Hats.

Communication

Six Thinking Hats Template

By RP Hobbyist · Updated October 2026

Six Thinking Hats is a thinking method created by Edward de Bono in his 1985 book of the same name. Instead of everyone arguing from different positions at once, a group looks at a topic from one perspective at a time. Each perspective is represented by a colored hat: facts, feelings, caution, benefits, new ideas, and managing the process.

This template puts your topic in the center with a branch for each hat. Work through the hats one by one, as a team or on your own, and capture what comes up under each. The result is a balanced view of the decision or problem, with both risks and opportunities recorded.

Six Thinking Hats template as a mind map — The Six Thinking Hats template as it opens in the editor.

It opens as a new map with 7 topics already filled in. You don't need an account.

Open in the editor

When to use a Six Thinking Hats

Team decisions where discussions keep going in circles
Evaluating a new idea, product or policy from all sides
Structured brainstorming workshops
Personal decisions where emotions and facts pull in different directions

What goes in each branch

White (Facts): Information you have and information you need. Stay neutral: data, figures, known facts and gaps.
Red (Feelings): Gut reactions, intuition and emotions, stated without needing to justify them.
Black (Caution): Risks, weaknesses and reasons something might not work. Critical, but constructive.
Yellow (Benefits): Value, benefits and reasons for optimism.
Green (Ideas): Creative alternatives, new possibilities, and ways to overcome the problems raised under the Black hat.
Blue (Process): Managing the thinking itself: the goal of the session, the order of the hats, and a summary of decisions and next steps.

Example: Should our team move to a four-day work week?

White: current output figures; results of other companies' trials
Red: excitement about more free time; worry about customer coverage
Black: longer days could cause fatigue; support gaps on Fridays
Yellow: better retention and easier hiring
Green: rotate the day off; run a three-month trial
Blue: decide at the end of the month after reviewing the trial data

Tips

Use one hat at a time with the whole group, rather than assigning people to hats.
Start and end with the Blue hat to set the goal and summarize the outcome.
Keep Red hat input short; feelings don't need to be justified.
Don't skip the Black hat. Recording risks early prevents surprises later.

Using this template in Neuron Mapping

Click Open in the editor. The template opens as a new map.
Select a topic and press Tab to add a branch under it, or double-click a topic to change its text.
Select a topic to change its color and shape, or add notes to it in Markdown.
When you're done, export the map as a PDF or PNG, or save it to keep editing later.

Everything runs locally in your browser: your map is saved on your device, works offline, and can be exported as PDF, PNG or an editable .nmm file.