This presentation was part of a workshop we organized at PEGA along with Anton Breman and Sharlene Thai. The objective was to clarify and set the company’s goals and objectives, and in the end, come up with a 3 years implementation plan.
It was a key issue to try to build ownership on the team when setting these goals, this way people would feel motivated on the implementation as they were part of the decision.
We used the 6 Thinking Hats technique from Edward de Bono. This is a technique of parallel thinking that keeps the discussion organized and flowing in the same direction. During every stage, we implemented some games that helped create a better atmosphere and give a message related to the team performance.
build the “Love”. “Love” is the most important thing for great team cohesiveness and a good team that “Loves”, does the job efficiently and effectively.
Designers are great problem solvers and facilitators of creative thinking.
The difference between brilliant and mediocre teams isn’t so much in their collective mental capacity, but in how well they can tap into their collective wisdom and how well they function together.
It helps you make better decisions by forcing you to move outside your habitual ways of thinking. As such, it helps you understand the full complexity of the decision, and spot issues and opportunities to which you might otherwise be blind. When we think in the normal way, we try to do too much at once. We may be looking at the information, forming ideas, and judging someone else’s ideas all at the same time. The Six Hats method allows us to unbundle thinking. Instead of trying to do everything at once, we separate out the different aspects of thinking. This way we can pay full attention to each aspect in turn.
White hat – Facts & Information Calls for information known or needed, facts and figures (objective)
- The facilitator begins with a ball of yarn. He/she keeps one end and passes the ball to a participant. Each participant introduces him/herself and role in the organization then, keeping hold of the strand of yarn, unrolls enough to hand the ball to another person in the group and how they are dependent on that person (or role). The process continues, often with multiple dependencies until everyone is introduced. The facilitator then pulls on the starting thread and asks the group if anyone’s hand failed to move. The facilitator then uses the yarn as a metaphor for the interdependencies of the group or the process which they will be discussing.
Red hat – Feelings & Emotions Signifies intuition, hunches, opinion & emotion, feelings (subjective)
Where do we want to be, how do we se us in in the future What are the Business Opportunities
Green hat – alternatives and creativity Focuses on creativity: the possibilities, alternatives and new ideas. Alternatives, new approaches & ‘everything goes’, idea generation & provocations (speculative/creative) We want to have a focus on generating objectives.
- Immediately after introductions, the facilitator arranges the group in a circle and asks each person to throw the ball to a person on the other side of the circle while stating their name. When every person in the group has thrown the ball at least once, the facilitator announces that “we are going to do it again but this time we’ll time it” and announces the rules. 1) Each person must touch the ball in the same order as the first round. 2) Each person must touch the ball with at least one hand. 3) Time stops when the ball is returned to the facilitator. (For further complication, the facilitator will sometimes introduce three balls in succession to the process.) Regardless of their performance, the facilitator expresses disappointment with the group’s performance and urges them to do it again faster. When asked for clarification, the facilitator only reiterates the rules. An effective team will creatively redesign their process to meet the requirements of the rules. After several iterations, the facilitator will call a halt and use the exercise to draw out morals which will be relevant later in the day such as “Challenge assumptions”, “Don’t be satisfied with the first answer”, “Be creative”, etc.
“ Big Picture,” “Conductor hat,” “Meta hat,” “thinking about thinking”, overall process (overview) The Blue Hat stands for process control
Black hat – Critical Judgement The devil’s advocate or why something may not work. Criticism, judgment, negative aspects, modus tollens (objective)
Gotchya! (Grab the Finger or Cheese) Fast-moving 5 min. group activity to get people together and focused. In a circle, right finger on next person’s left palm. Try to grab a finger before yours gets grabbed.
Symbolizes brightness and optimism. Praise, positive aspects, why it will work (objective)
A common icebreaker game or teambuilding activity for new people to learn to work together in close physical proximity. It is a disentanglement puzzle in which a group of people in a circle hold hands with the person across from them, and the goal is to get the group into a circle. Not all human knots are solvable, and may end up as two circles. Goals of the Human Knot Game: -Team building and communication - You have to work together to solve the problem
藉由剛剛黑帽與黃帽思考 重新審視 action plan 是否方向正確 發展出更合適的 action plans! Green hat – alternatives and creativity Focuses on creativity: the possibilities, alternatives and new ideas. Alternatives, new approaches & ‘everything goes’, idea generation & provocations (speculative/creative) We want to have a focus on generating actions.
“ Big Picture,” “Conductor hat,” “Meta hat,” “thinking about thinking”, overall process (overview) The Blue Hat stands for process control