As an ex design student, entrepreneur and faclitator on large scale collaborative projects, I think this is one of the best explainer videos on the topic of 6 Hats Thinking method for meetings! Thank you!
If you’d like 20-25 people to brainstorm the same problem using the 6 hats method for you suggest breaking them up into groups or doing one large brainstorm over a longer time period (that of course included more breaks). Or would it be best to get the smaller groups to come up with 1-2 final ideas and then in a new session get the whole group to just look at those few that came from the smaller groups? And I know either way might be viable but wanted any insight anyone has on having done something similar.
Both ways can work but it is difficult to ensure that everyone participates when using large groups - ideas can easily be lost. My preference when using large groups is to use a snowball technique to ensure that everyone gets a voice. That basically involves setting the scene (Blue Hat) and then starting with silent reflection and Sticky Note Brainstorming to get the ideas going - using the Green Hat. Having music on can help the creative mood. Open the discussions in smaller teams - sharing their ideas, grouping them together to identify commonality and then exploring each using the Yellow Hat. Merge smaller teams into larger teams (for example - the last time I used this technique was with 30 people, just before lock-down. We started in teams of 5 and then merged to three teams of 10) and repeat. This is followed by each team sharing its thinking with the wider group as a collective. The whole group then used the Black Hat to identify potential risks and downsides of the various ideas. To change the energy, we used a Reverse Brainstorm to come up with the worst possible, and then adopted Green Hat to see what ideas that provoked and Yellow Hat to build positives. You can then go back into smaller groups to build on the ideas generated or stay as a collective - depending on how it is going. Using the Yellow and Green Hats as appropriate and posing questions to stimulate thinking and provoke ideas. Use short timings to keep focus and energy - keep coming back to the wider collective to share ideas and build. When you run out of time / energy. I like to close the session with quick Dot Voting activity under the Red Hat to get initial reactions to which ideas they want to explore further and develop. Blue Hat then allows you to review what you have done and agree some actions for next steps. Hope that helps.
As an ex design student, entrepreneur and faclitator on large scale collaborative projects, I think this is one of the best explainer videos on the topic of 6 Hats Thinking method for meetings! Thank you!
Thank you very much - glad you enjoyed it.
I'm a graphic design student.This video explained everything I needed to know about creative thinking and brainstorming.
Thank you!
Glad it was helpful! Good luck with the course.
Great video. It's clearly to understand. Thanks a lot
Glad it was helpful!
Great idea and explained nicely
If you’d like 20-25 people to brainstorm the same problem using the 6 hats method for you suggest breaking them up into groups or doing one large brainstorm over a longer time period (that of course included more breaks). Or would it be best to get the smaller groups to come up with 1-2 final ideas and then in a new session get the whole group to just look at those few that came from the smaller groups? And I know either way might be viable but wanted any insight anyone has on having done something similar.
Both ways can work but it is difficult to ensure that everyone participates when using large groups - ideas can easily be lost. My preference when using large groups is to use a snowball technique to ensure that everyone gets a voice. That basically involves setting the scene (Blue Hat) and then starting with silent reflection and Sticky Note Brainstorming to get the ideas going - using the Green Hat. Having music on can help the creative mood. Open the discussions in smaller teams - sharing their ideas, grouping them together to identify commonality and then exploring each using the Yellow Hat.
Merge smaller teams into larger teams (for example - the last time I used this technique was with 30 people, just before lock-down. We started in teams of 5 and then merged to three teams of 10) and repeat. This is followed by each team sharing its thinking with the wider group as a collective.
The whole group then used the Black Hat to identify potential risks and downsides of the various ideas. To change the energy, we used a Reverse Brainstorm to come up with the worst possible, and then adopted Green Hat to see what ideas that provoked and Yellow Hat to build positives.
You can then go back into smaller groups to build on the ideas generated or stay as a collective - depending on how it is going. Using the Yellow and Green Hats as appropriate and posing questions to stimulate thinking and provoke ideas. Use short timings to keep focus and energy - keep coming back to the wider collective to share ideas and build.
When you run out of time / energy. I like to close the session with quick Dot Voting activity under the Red Hat to get initial reactions to which ideas they want to explore further and develop. Blue Hat then allows you to review what you have done and agree some actions for next steps.
Hope that helps.
Pretty freakin clever.