Six Thinking Styles

What are Six Thinking Styles?

Six Thinking Styles is a structured brainstorming and decision-making approach designed to help teams explore a topic from multiple angles. It provides a practical framework for making discussions more balanced, focused, and effective by encouraging participants to deliberately consider different ways of thinking.

It is closely related to the Six Thinking Hats® method by Edward de Bono — GroupMap’s six thinking styles map directly onto de Bono’s six coloured hats (see the mapping below), using plain-language labels instead of hat colours.

Key takeaways

• Six thinking styles — Facts, Feelings, Risks, Benefits, Creativity, and Systems — has the whole group focus on one style at a time so a topic is explored from every angle.
• It is the plain-language version of the Six Thinking Hats® approach; each style maps directly onto one of de Bono’s coloured hats.
• Use it to run more structured, inclusive meetings, evaluate decisions, and generate ideas without the loudest voice dominating.
• Adapt it freely — rename, add, or combine styles to fit your team and topic.

How it works​

The approach encourages participants to move beyond their habitual thinking patterns by deliberately adopting different ways that people think. By doing so, teams can explore a broader range of ideas, challenge assumptions, and develop more balanced insights.

An example of the benefit of using the Six Thinking Styles technique is to encourage different viewpoints to be shared, seen, and discussed as part of the decision-making process.

Related templates

• SWOT 
• Pros and Cons
• PESTLE Analysis
• PEST Analysis

Tips for using Six Thinking Styles

• Encourage each person to contribute to each of the styles
• Avoid putting people into fixed categories — everyone can use all styles
• Use styles flexibly throughout the discussion
• Combine styles where useful (e.g. Benefits + Risks to evaluate ideas)

Six thinking styles is excellent at eliciting different viewpoints, but you may wish to combine it with other techniques to help resolve conflicting ideas.

The six different styles

• Facts
  Focuses on analytical and objective thinking, with attention to evidence, data, feasibility, and known information.
• Feelings
  Explores emotional responses, intuition, perceptions, and personal viewpoints.
• Risks
  Examines concerns, limitations, and potential problems to identify what could go wrong.
• Benefits
  Highlights strengths, opportunities, and positive outcomes to identify what could go right.
• Creativity
  Encourages new ideas, fresh thinking, and alternative approaches.
• Systems
  Provides a structured, big-picture perspective by focusing on coordination, process, and how ideas connect.

One of the strengths of six thinking styles is its flexibility. While the default styles provide a helpful starting point, you can easily adapt them to suit your team, topic, or objective.

You can:

• Add new styles based on your specific context
• Rename styles to match your organization’s language
• Combine or simplify styles for faster discussions
• Tailor prompts to focus on the outcomes you need

This flexibility allows teams to explore problems from different angles in a way that is relevant and meaningful, rather than being constrained to a fixed structure.

Use Six Thinking Styles for better meetings

Six Thinking Styles is a practical approach to decision-making that incorporates multiple points of view.

The method allows emotion, critical thinking, and creativity to be included alongside rational analysis, helping teams make more well-rounded decisions.

Decisions made using this approach can be more resilient and based on a holistic perspective, allowing you to identify risks and opportunities before committing to a decision.

When should I use Six Thinking Styles?

Use this approach to help with:

• Running more structured and inclusive meetings
• Making better decisions by exploring multiple viewpoints
• Analyzing problems from factual, emotional, and creative angles
• Inspiring idea generation as an ice-breaker activity
• Encouraging collaboration during brainstorming and decision-making

Six Thinking Styles template example

Imagine facilitating a meeting to introduce a new product or service:

Facts

“What are the facts that we know?”

• Survey data indicates a 5% preference among a key segment
• Return rates have decreased significantly with new packaging
• New delivery routes are available

Benefits

“What are the potential upsides?”

• Opportunity to diversify revenue streams
• Potential for stronger customer feedback
• Improved delivery performance

Feelings

“What are your gut reactions?”

• Positive emotional response to the product design
• Curiosity about operational impact
• Interest in delivery improvements

Creativity

“What new ideas can we explore?”

• Expand into additional product variations
• Develop new partnerships
• Bundle products for increased value

Risks

“What should we be cautious about?”

• Demand uncertainty
• Cost implications of quality improvements
• Reliability of new delivery routes

Systems

“What processes are needed?”

• Review operational impacts
• Assess workflow changes
• Evaluate technology implications

Example sequence for problem solving

• Facts — understand the situation
• Feelings — gather reactions
• Risks — identify drawbacks
• Benefits — evaluate positives
• Creativity — generate solutions
• Systems — define next steps

Six Thinking Hats and the six thinking styles

The best-known version of this approach is the Six Thinking Hats® method, created by Dr Edward de Bono, which uses coloured hats as a metaphor for different ways of thinking. GroupMap’s six thinking styles use plain-language labels instead, but each style maps closely to one of the hats:

• White hat → Facts — objective information, data and what we know.
• Red hat → Feelings — emotions, intuition and gut reactions.
• Black hat → Risks — caution, concerns and what could go wrong.
• Yellow hat → Benefits — optimism, value and what could go right.
• Green hat → Creativity — new ideas and alternatives.
• Blue hat → Systems — process, the big picture and next steps.

“Six Thinking Hats” is a registered trademark of Edward de Bono Ltd.

Any reference to the Six Thinking Hats® method is made solely for the purpose of identifying and describing a well-known methodology. GroupMap is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or associated with Edward de Bono Ltd, and this template is not an official or licensed product.

Other thinking styles and frameworks

There are many structured thinking approaches that help individuals and teams explore problems from different styles. Structured thinking approaches help teams including

The 5 Thinking Styles (Harrison & Bramson)

• Synthesists: Creative, question assumptions, comfortable with conflict, and enjoy shifting perspective.
• Idealists: Goal-oriented, holistic thinkers focused on future goals, quality, community good, and harmony.
• Pragmatists: Flexible, practical, focus on immediate results, short-term payoffs, and quick, resource-based problem-solving.
• Analysts: Detail-oriented, methodical, rational; seek the “one best way” via data gathering and logical evaluation.
• Realists: Facts-oriented, prioritize “what is,” focus on efficiency, direct problem-solving, and practical results; act as a stabilizing force.

7 Thinking Styles

• Abstract thinking: Connects ideas to the big picture using symbols/concepts, solving puzzles, understanding illusions, and finding hidden meanings.
• Analytical thinking: Uses a structured, logical, step-by-step approach for problem-solving and decision-making.
• Concrete thinking: Literal, straightforward thinking that relies on facts and concrete evidence, often struggling with creative solutions.
• Convergent thinking: Finds one solution using available information, useful when resources are limited or in emergencies.
• Creative thinking: Finds non-obvious, alternative solutions by thinking outside the box.
• Critical thinking: Carefully considers situations from all angles, weighing research, implications, and possible solutions before deciding.
• Divergent thinking: Generates every possible solution to a problem, often using mind mapping.

Save effort, time and money with GroupMap

GroupMap offers more than just an online digital whiteboard—it’s innovative platform is designed to enhance the quality of your team’s decisions. With features that prevent bias and make facilitation seamless, GroupMap ensures no single voice dominates and ensures productive, inclusive conversations. 

Its intuitive interface is easy for anyone to use, and its scalable design supports small teams and large groups whether they are face to face or around the globe. Customizable templates and workflows keep discussions focused on objectives, helping you drive actionable outcomes each and every time.