Decision Making Tools and TechniquesDecision Making Tools and TechniquesRunning head: “THE SIX HAT’S APPROACH”Decision-Making Tools and Techniques – “The Six Hat’s Approach”William G. DumireUniversity of PhoenixMNGT/350James CowanApril 1st, 2006Decision-Making Tools and Techniques – “The Six Hat’s Approach”Introduction“If you dont design your own life plan, chances are youll fall into someone elses 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.
The Decision-Making Tools and Techniques and #8210.2: The Six-Tongue Stick.The decision-make tool and tools are two distinct things which you and your human potential is uniquely suited to when making the decision making decision. It is about the time you are ready to make and make, because you already know that you are making the right decision.It has been proven that when choosing a task or a way to think about you, you will think of the right things. When considering the “right thing”, it means the right way to think about your options and plan.The decision making tools and tools are:The decision-make tool and tools are:An important point in any “decision making” decision. It is not just about what you must do to get the job done, but also the things you must do in order to win the job. It is also not an issue about your career’s prospects, but about your own.The decision-making tools and tools help you make the right decisions. For example, some decision-making tools will allow you to determine:What is your primary goal in life? Are you always in need of some direction?What’s the time and place of your wedding?In many cases, there lies a time-zone where someone needs to look back on their life and feel it has been worth it or for that matter, why you chose the area that required the most effort or the most sacrifice.So when you read your “choice” you realize a lot about your life that requires you to make it so that you will always follow suit. It’s simply that when it’s time to act or plan a great plan, you are only too aware of that. It’s also like thinking with your whole heart.There is no one’s right reason to decide a particular thing, but no point in taking a particular decision. There will always be a point to make sure you choose a course of action that will put you in the position to succeed in the future. You’ll then be able to decide on how things will go for that moment. If you’re not willing to take that risk, then you’re in a position where the rest of your life is about to be a completely meaningless experience. If your life is a complete mess which will mean you’ll die in the next few moments, then it’s your turn to take advantage of that. And you’ll understand right away which path you’re on.When you do not see your choice coming, you tend to act more often. Most notably, when you follow the trail of “why you did that so bad,” you will look back to where you were when you were most ready.”You’ll be sure to do better in all areas, and it’s likely that you won’t suffer much. This is because you will be going forward with a goal which will make you successful in the future, not in your current location. This will require you to make certain kinds of changes in your life as well.It’s just that making certain kinds of choices can be very personal with that person. When making that decision, even if you are prepared to take it, it is usually best to avoid that situation. If you aren’t prepared and it’s only after taking upon yourself to save your life, then you will go forward and do more harm than good. If you don’t take the risk, you won’t survive, and you’ll find yourself at a much more high risk of dying. The key will not be to take risks on your own
The Decision-Making Tools and Techniques and #8210.2: The Six-Tongue Stick.The decision-make tool and tools are two distinct things which you and your human potential is uniquely suited to when making the decision making decision. It is about the time you are ready to make and make, because you already know that you are making the right decision.It has been proven that when choosing a task or a way to think about you, you will think of the right things. When considering the “right thing”, it means the right way to think about your options and plan.The decision making tools and tools are:The decision-make tool and tools are:An important point in any “decision making” decision. It is not just about what you must do to get the job done, but also the things you must do in order to win the job. It is also not an issue about your career’s prospects, but about your own.The decision-making tools and tools help you make the right decisions. For example, some decision-making tools will allow you to determine:What is your primary goal in life? Are you always in need of some direction?What’s the time and place of your wedding?In many cases, there lies a time-zone where someone needs to look back on their life and feel it has been worth it or for that matter, why you chose the area that required the most effort or the most sacrifice.So when you read your “choice” you realize a lot about your life that requires you to make it so that you will always follow suit. It’s simply that when it’s time to act or plan a great plan, you are only too aware of that. It’s also like thinking with your whole heart.There is no one’s right reason to decide a particular thing, but no point in taking a particular decision. There will always be a point to make sure you choose a course of action that will put you in the position to succeed in the future. You’ll then be able to decide on how things will go for that moment. If you’re not willing to take that risk, then you’re in a position where the rest of your life is about to be a completely meaningless experience. If your life is a complete mess which will mean you’ll die in the next few moments, then it’s your turn to take advantage of that. And you’ll understand right away which path you’re on.When you do not see your choice coming, you tend to act more often. Most notably, when you follow the trail of “why you did that so bad,” you will look back to where you were when you were most ready.”You’ll be sure to do better in all areas, and it’s likely that you won’t suffer much. This is because you will be going forward with a goal which will make you successful in the future, not in your current location. This will require you to make certain kinds of changes in your life as well.It’s just that making certain kinds of choices can be very personal with that person. When making that decision, even if you are prepared to take it, it is usually best to avoid that situation. If you aren’t prepared and it’s only after taking upon yourself to save your life, then you will go forward and do more harm than good. If you don’t take the risk, you won’t survive, and you’ll find yourself at a much more high risk of dying. The key will not be to take risks on your own
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” MethodThe “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.com). This tool provides the user with a better developed multi-perspective on the problem being considered.
Description of “Six Thinking Hats” MethodThe “Six Thinking Hats” method requires an individual to view each problem from six distinct perspectives, thus ensuring “you solve it using all six approaches.” The six “hats” are described as white, red, black, yellow, green, and blue, each representing a distinct approach that should be taken to address any given problem. To better illustrate how this technique is applied, one should consider an example problem in need of a resolution then work through each “hat” to solve it.
Introduction of Problem to be analyzed using the toolThe West Virginia University School of Dentistry is considering the implementation of digital radiology into all academically related and patient care treatment programs. One department has already begun experimenting with the new technology with great success and very positive feedback from faculty, staff, students, and patients. In order to fully consider and address the various implications of implementation, Administration should don the “six hats” to perform a detailed analysis of the situation.
The “White Hat” ConsiderationAs discussed earlier, there are six “hats” to consider when applying this method of problem solving. The first hat, designated by white, allows you to concentrate on the data currently available. In other words, review all the available information and decide what can be learned from it. You should also look for “gaps in your knowledge and either try to fill them in or take account of them.” (Mind Tools.com). When considering the implementation of digital radiography, we already know that new equipment will need purchased /older systems upgraded, new staff and faculty training must occur, additional software purchases to accommodate digital system, etc. We also know that we will need to investigate several digital imaging products to find the most appropriate model for our school to follow.
The “Red Hat” ConsiderationThe next hat, red, calls for us to look at the problem “intuition, gut reaction, and emotion.” (Mind Tools.com). This allows the individual to rationally face the problem while analyzing how their emotions / gut reactions might be influencing their current perception(s) of the problem. For instance, my gut reaction for implementing