Black Hat Explained: The Six Thinking Hats [Book Summary 4/7]
This is the 4th part of the book summary series on the Six Thinking Hats.
The Black Hat is the caution hat. It keeps us from doing things that are illegal, immoral, unprofitable, polluting and so on.
The Black Hat is quite natural for us, as we’ve been using it for millennia to prevent us from eating the wrong berries or trusting the wrong strangers. One wrong decision leads your genetic lineage to die right there.
The Black Hat is also the opposite of the Yellow Hat, where we find benefits of ideas and plans.
“I can see how this idea is very attractive and we have considered all the benefits. Now let’s have some black hat thinking on potential dangers and downsides.”
“We both like this house very much. That is strong red hat thinking. Let’s have some black thinking for a moment.”
Main Benefits of the Black Hat
In a planned sequence, it’s invaluable to have a set time for the Black Hat.
- Fight your own confirmation bias. Allows everyone, including the person who proposed an idea, to be critical and find potential pitfalls.
- Use more of your brain. People who are habitually cautious can excel at fault-finding in a formal setting, thus allowing them to be creative or optimistic at other times. Many of those people welcome the use of the Six Thinking Hats and have been surprised by how creative they can be by wearing the Green Hat for example.
What is the Black Hat for?
Logical fault & danger finding
The Black Hat is always logical. Unlike with the Red Hat, we do have to give good reasons for our concerns.
“I don’t like the idea of lowering the prices.
That is Red Hat Thinking. Please give me your Black Hat Thinking. We need your logical reasons.
Fine. In our past experience — which I can show you with sales figures — lowering prices has not resulted in enough additional sales to offset the reduction in profit margin. Also our competitors have typically lowered their prices to match the competition.”
Pretend it is the future and look back on why a plan has failed
An excellent way to find risks and flaws in a plan is the Murphy Jitsu method I learned in a CFAR workshop!
It allows us to leverage our “Inner Simulator / System 1” to find flaws in plans. We play a movie in our head of the plan and can ‘sense’ where things go wrong.
“Let’s wear our Black Hats and pretend it’s three months from now. If we missed our sales numbers, what were the likely reasons?”
Design Stage vs. Assessment Stage
The Black Hat functions quite differently if we are in the design stage or assessment stage of an idea or project.
Suppose we have a project that is 95% excellent and has 5% flaws.
Most of us have a tendency to focus on the 5% flaws.
In the design stage, it’s totally legitimate to point out the flaws and spend significant time to correct for them, say using the Green Hat.
In the assessment stage however, we should acknowledge the 5% flaws but mostly focus on the 95% benefits.
“We have found good reasons to support this idea. Now let’s have some strong black hat thinking to find weaknesses so we can do something about them at the design stage.”
Overuse
The most important thing about the black hat is that you wear it consciously.
So that when it is not worn, you are keeping an open mind and not criticizing others ideas yet.
We have natural tendency to be critical of others’ ideas. We should use this very useful skill while wearing the Black Hat. Then we can be more open and creative with ideas of others with the other Hats.
Questions to ask with the Black Hat
- Check against white hat: Does it fit the data?
- Does it fit our values and ethics?
- Is it profitable?
- Is it legal?
- Can we afford it?
- Will clients like this?
Your Turn
Training
- When can you apply the Black Hat next?
- What difficult decision do you have to make soon? Can you lay out what you see under the Black Hat?
- What is your Black Hat thinking about the Six Thinking Hats?
Next Steps
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Overview of the Six Thinking Hats
Flavio Rump is an entrepreneur and investor. He shares decision-making models from the world’s best decision makers. You can read his articles, watch his YouTube Videos or join his free newsletter to learn how to make better decisions.
