First, let me briefly introduce the six hat thinking rules
- Blue Hat: "Conductor's Hat" When you or your team are in blue hat mode, you focus on controlling your thinking and managing the decision-making process. You will set the agenda, ask for summaries, and draw conclusions.
- Green Hat: "Creative Hat" The green hat represents creative thinking. When you "wear" this hat, you explore a range of ideas and possible ways forward.
- Red Hat: "Heart Hat" This hat represents feelings and instincts. When you engage in this kind of thinking, you can express your feelings without having to prove them with logic.
- Yellow Hat: "Optimist's Hat" Using yellow hat thinking, you will look at problems in the most positive light. You will emphasize the benefits and added value that your ideas may bring.
- Black Hat: "Judge's Hat" This hat represents caution and assessing risks. You want to use critical judgment and explain exactly why you have concerns.
- White Hat: "Fact Hat" The white hat represents information gathering. Think about the knowledge and insights you have already gathered, as well as the information you lack, and where you can get this information.
- This thinking method can be completed by one person or a team, and the order of the hats can be decided by yourself in most cases.
Take my personal experience as an example
- Blue hat: The question I am thinking about now is, do I need to improve myself by studying abroad at the moment?
- Red hat: Instinctively feel that I do encounter some bottlenecks at the moment. I have acquired a lot of skills through self-study and opened up the circle by starting my own business, but I was still in a class that was difficult to break through. I need more professional guidance, thinking cognition, and network resources to help me better face future challenges.
- White hat: Check information, choose a study abroad area, study abroad school, professional introduction, etc.? For example, the connection between the relevant major and my current and future, and the content that the course knowledge can help me improve.
- Green hat: I need to pay attention to the content other than studying abroad. How can studying abroad help me create value and improve? For me, studying abroad for a master's degree is meaningless if it is still a concept on paper. For me, school is not only a place to learn, but more importantly, it is also a platform. If you can make full use of the platform resources, it is also a kind of value realization.
- Yellow hat: Since I pay attention to things other than studying, during the application stage, I am not only concerned about the professional level. Does the school have some school-enterprise cooperation that can have more practical projects? Can the school's alumni circle have a better connection with the current development? (This question seems to go back to the previous thinking about the ranking of schools and majors in the college entrance examination.) After this level, I have locked in the Hong Kong Polytechnic, which is the most suitable for me among the current study abroad options. The school's design school is also internationally renowned. I am also very honored to have received the dream offer in the end.
- Black hat: Thinking in the opposite way, the current academic qualifications are devalued. It may be difficult for me to have a leap forward with a master's degree. At the same time, the application that I have prepared hard may eventually fall through, and my efforts will be in vain.