Six Thinking Hats Exercise
The Situation
You have decided that you want to set up your own business. You are really interested in films and videos and therefore would like to set up a video rental shop. There is a shop available in the centre of Market Deeping and you know that people would use your service as you have spoken to lots of family and friends about the idea. Therefore you could consider starting up as a sole trader.
However ‘Blockbuster’ (large multinational) who are also interested in setting up in the town, have approached you. They have asked you if you would consider setting up as a franchise. They would offer you support, training and they are a recognised company. However the franchise fee is a lot and you would not have full control over the business.
You need to decide what to do.
Using each of the six thinking hats, work your way through to making a decision. Will you start your video shop business as a sole trader or will you join Blockbuster Videos and open a franchise. Write down a response to each of the thinking hats. Work in your team that will be presenting your 'Pitch'.
Start with:
Yellow Thinking Hat
advantages, benefits, positives, savings. (Why it can be done? Why there are benefits? Why it is a good thing to do?)
Red Thinking Hat
emotions, feelings, hunches, intuition. (How do I feel about this matter right now? How might others feel? How will I feel in a few months/years from now?)
Black Thinking Hat
Caution, truth, judgement. (Does it fit the facts? Will it work? Can it be done?)
White Thinking Hat
Facts, figures, information. (What information do we have? What information do we
need to get? Who has information we need?
Green Thinking Hat
Exploration, proposals, suggestions. (What can we do? Are there some different ideas? Who is included and who is not included?)
Blue Thinking Hat
Thinking about the process of thinking. (Is it a good idea for me to be thinking about the process? How much should I think about the views of others?)