What Is Your Thinking Hat? | Self-Improvement Coaching

What hat are you wearing when you think?  Years ago when I was studying what makes an effective team I came across a book, The Six Thinking Hats by Edward DeBono.  One of the premises was that for effective teamwork that it was important to have different perspectives.  And, as a team leader it is important to have a variety of prisms in thought in order to be able to move forward on a project or task with greater confidence.

First, it is important to understand that each team member has preferred ways of thinking.  As a leader, you may be able to discern what is the best hat for someone to wear.

1. White Hat Thinking-With this thinking you focus on the data available. You analyze from past trends and extrapolate from historical data.

2. Red Hat Thinking- You look at problems using your intuition, not reaction and emotion. Your goal is to understand others’ response intuitively, even if they don’t know your reasoning.

3. Black Hat Thinking- You look for all the bad points in a decision. You look at things cautiously and defensively. You observe why they may not work. Your goal is to highlight the weak points of a plan. With good Black Hat Thinking flaws can be found and corrected that will make the plan stronger.

4. Yellow Hat Thinking- This is about thinking positively. It is the optimistic viewpoint that helps you see all the benefits of the decision and the value in it.

5. Green Hat Thinking- The Green Hat stands for creativity. You develop creative solutions to problems.  It is a freewheeling way of thinking where the team is not there to criticize them so much as to encourage as many ideas as possible to come forward to make for a better project or plan.

6. Blue Hat Thinking- The Blue Hat is about process control. This hat is usually worn by the people chairing the meetings. When things may seem stalled, they can direct a team member or members into Green Hat Thinking.  Or, if contingencies are needed, they can direct people into Black Hat Thinking.

In my personal experience as a business owner and as a business coach in the Woodlands, I have found the Six Thinking Hats to be valuable.  When team members understand their roles, which hat or hats to wear, they become more enthused and focused. Also, it permits thinking and ideas to be expressed that might otherwise remain hidden for fear of upsetting other team members.

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How the Kindergarteners Won | Self-Improvement Coaching

In the previous post I related an experiment that was done to highlight aspects that create a good culture in which teams can be productive. As a self-improvement business coach in the Woodlands one of the areas of focus in corporations and small businesses that I collaborate with has been regarding culture and how culture impacts not only a team’s efficiency but effectiveness.

The kindergarteners in the experiment won against teams of business students. They also carried the experiment to other groups. The kindergarteners defeated lawyers and CEOs. So, what was going on that created this unexpected result?

Let’s start with what we focus on, which is individual skills. If you think about it, individual skills are easy to focus on because they are the most visible. But, when it comes to team performance, it is not individual skills that matter. What matters is the interaction.

Let’s take a look at the business students. As a personal business coach in Houston, I have worked with talented young people. The business students had more talent individually than the kindergartners. But they were not engaged in collaboration, so much as what psychologists call, status management. They were figuring where they fit into the larger picture. Who is in charge? Is it okay to criticize someone’s idea? What are the rules here? Their interactions appear smooth, but their underlying behavior is riddled with inefficiency, hesitation, and subtle competition. As a result of managing status their first efforts collapse and they run out of time.

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Ability, Motivation and Attitude | self improvement tips for success

Ability is your capability in certain areas.  Motivation determines what you do with your ability.  Attitude determines the quality of your outcomes when you use your ability and are motivated.

In my personal business coaching practice in The Woodlands and in Houston I have observed time and again the connection between these three areas and how they impact individual and team performance.Ability is important.  It is a great place to start when looking at what you are capable of accomplishing.  But it is not everything.

Motivation, by itself, is not enough.  Motivation gets you going in using your ability, yet it doesn’t guaranty you are headed down the right path.Attitude is what takes your ability and motivation and keeps it on track.  Attitude says that if the track your ability and motivation are taking you on is not working, that you will try something else.  With the right attitude, you are willing to make the necessary adjustments on your road to success.

Adjustments are not failures.  Adjustments are changes that are necessary to keep you relevant.  If you don’t adjust you fail.  You fail because you are becoming irrelevant.  You are in a race to the bottom.

In returning to attitude: the right attitude harnessed to your ability and motivation will position you to create the steam to drive your engine of performance that will move you from ordinary to extraordinary.

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