Running head: "THE SIX HAT'S APPROACH"
Decision-Making Tools and Techniques - "The Six Hat's Approach"
William G. Dumire
University of Phoenix
MNGT/350
James Cowan
April 1st, 2006
Decision-Making Tools and Techniques - "The Six Hat's Approach"
Introduction
"If you don't design your own life plan, chances are you'll fall into someone else's plan. And guess what they have planned for you? Not much." (About Quotations.com). Our ability to make well informed and critically analyzed decisions along with the decision-making processes we employ, are key in determining our overall successes and failures. We are faced with daily decisions that can ultimately change the very courses of our lives. Poor decisions will lead to unintended failures while educated, deliberate, and purposefully planned decisions will bring about a desired result with great success.
Why Use Decision-Making Tools?
Since high-quality decision-making plays such a significant role in our personal and professional lives, it's extremely important to identify tools and techniques that can aide us in the process. While many such tools exist, for the purposes of this paper, I will concentrate on one specific tool used for this purpose. The tool that will be discussed is called the "Six Thinking Hats" method (Mind Tools.com).
Introduction to the "Six Thinking Hats" Method
The "Six Thinking Hats", created by Edward de Bono, is used to "look at decisions from a number of important perspectives." (Mind Tools.com). The method forces you to think "outside the box", to move away from your naturally engrained "habitual thinking style" while considering possibilities that may have never exited for you previously. (Mind Tools.c ...