I’m not a very good thinker or some super successful person. But as a regular human with a brain, sometimes I do think about things in a deeper state.

And I’ve experienced this a lot—when I suddenly get an idea, usually related to my own problems. That instant dopamine hit of realizing “Wait, maybe I actually have a solution for this!” You know that moment.

It’s so random, and I guess no one really has control over when it happens. Most of the time I’ve noticed that these ideas circle around inside our heads, limited to the knowledge and understanding we currently have. And then this chaotic brainstorming starts happening, your mind tries to sort things out based on the context you know. Some thoughts feel like good guesses, some feel satisfying, and some are just hallucinations or nonsense.

So randomly the other day I came across this method or set of steps called the Six Thinking Hats. At first I didn’t get it at all—it just seemed like some fancy name for some stupid idea.

But when I actually understood it, I started relating to it. Maybe because I’ve already had moments like that. Sometimes my mind approves an idea based on my current context. Sometimes it doesn’t, and I drop it right then and there because my mind just doesn’t approve. You know… all those different ways our thoughts behave.

In the simplest form, it goes something like this:

You have six different color hats:

1. White Hat → Facts & Information

• What do we know?
• What data do we have?
• What more do we need?

2. Red Hat → Emotions & Intuition

• What do I feel about this?
• Gut reactions, instincts.

3. Black Hat → Caution & Risks

• What might go wrong?
• Weaknesses, dangers, problems.

4. Yellow Hat → Benefits & Optimism

• Why is this a good idea?
• What are the strengths and opportunities?

5. Green Hat → Creativity & New Ideas

• New concepts
• Alternatives
• Creative solutions

6. Blue Hat → Control & Organization

• Managing the thinking process
• Structuring the steps

So this seems like a lot, but doing this tiny bit of effort might make “thinking and ideas” feel more rational, instead of just handing everything over to mind.