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In law school, we were taught to look at every case from three sides: the plaintiff’s, the defendant’s, and the bystander’s.

But if we want to transform situations, we need to think about problems not just from different angles, but with different mindsets.

Created by Edward de Bono, the Six Thinking Hats methodology challenges our automatic, natural way of thinking. It forces us to suspend our judgments and consider various perspectives of an issue before making a decision.

A powerful collaboration tool, the Six Thinking Hats encourages and even emboldens conversation and exploration.

How does it work? Before taking action or making a decision, purposely explore the issue or problem using each of the following mindsets:

• Blue Hat: look at the big picture
• White Hat: examine purely the facts
• Red Hat: consider only emotional feelings
• Black Hat: explore just the practical and the realistic
• Yellow Hat: reflect on the brighter, sunny side
• Green Hat: think outside the box

Putting on a different colored hat (literally or metaphorically) symbolizes a switch in thinking. Each color represents a mindset:

• Blue: Managing
• White: Information
• Red: Emotions
• Black: Discernment
• Yellow: Optimism
• Green: Creativity

It’s more than shifting our chair to see the problem from divergent angles; it’s about approaching a problem with a diverse, fresh perspective.

If you want to improve your critical thinking and problem solving skills, pause to switch hats, and start thinking differently.

And if you lead a team or an organization, you are likely starved for people who think differently. Use the Six Thinking Hats to intentionally instigate strategic, critical thinking.

The power from your people depends on it. 

I asked Bob why he hadn’t launched his program yet. He replied, “I’m still gathering information.”

I said, “Bob, you’re not launching a rocket into space. You’re launching mentoring into the company. You need to move with your current best thinking.”

Bob had become an information curator: collecting and guarding information like works of art in a museum. Bob had spent months socializing the idea, gathering data, organizing focus groups, scheduling committee meetings, benchmarking, planning, and analyzing.

But to launch his program, he needs to become an information broker: one who takes action to set information in motion.

Information brokers are like weathermen. They announce the weather with the current best information they have. If the winds shift, the temperature goes up, or the rain clouds roll in, they update their forecast.

Like a weatherman, we don’t need perfect information to move forward.

And, for many of our decisions, taking action is critical in order to improve our current best thinking.

So what causes our information curating? Fear of being judged, criticized, blamed…

To mitigate this fear and move forward:

• Call it a test, a trial, a phase 1, a pilot (everyone forgives a pilot!)
• Ask for feedback to improve it
• Seek advice, perspectives, and ideas from others
• Re-evaluate, course-correct, make adjustments

To be successful, we need to move forward with our current best thinking. And when our current best thinking evolves based on new information, we’ll have future best thinking, and then we’ll evolve our actions accordingly.

If you run a team or an organization, notice when your people are curating information:

• Ask them: What is your current best thinking?
• Encourage them to take action based on that
• Suggest they launch a pilot, a test, a trial
• Implore them to seek ideas to fuel their future best thinking

And then be ready to forgive an incorrect weather forecast.

I was in The Art of Shaving store last weekend purchasing a gift when a teenager entered the store.

His face was clean shaven; his skin smooth, shiny and unblemished, even glowing; and he was beaming. Followed by an entourage of friends, the teenager made a beeline for John, the store manager.

In front of his friends and a crowd of customers, the teenager gave John a handshake and gushed, “Thank you so much. You changed my life.”  A little surprised, John proclaimed, “I’m so glad it worked! Thank you for coming back to show me how great your face looks!”

With that, the gaggle of smiling, somewhat embarrassed teenagers and their beaming, clean shaven leader turned and shuffled out of the store.

With pride, John explained, “He was in here a couple months ago with razor burns, in-grown hair, and acne. I spent an hour teaching him how to shave, fitting him with the right razor, and finding a product that would help his skin.

” Reflecting on this rare moment, John admitted, “That just made my night.” 

Everyone in the store felt fortunate to have witnessed this exchange.

The teenager went out of his way to appreciate John, who had gone out of his way to mentor him. John could have just sold the teenager a razor and some lotion. And the teenager could have taken John’s advice and never returned.

Instead they each turned a simple transaction into a transformation.  How?

• Empathy and compassion
• Shared advice and guidance
• Acknowledgement and appreciation
• Purposeful connection
• Trust

Whether it’s a purchase, a conversation, or a meeting, we always have the opportunity to shift a transaction into a transformation… simply by asking, “Is this the biggest difference I can make with this person in this moment?”

I ate at Coopers Hawk Winery in a Chicago suburb recently and loved it, not just for the food but for the experience.

Interestingly, the waitress who took our order was not the same person who delivered our food, and a different person cleared our table.

The service was fast; the food was delicious; and we never waited with unmet requests or dirty dishes.  And everyone who came to our table treated us as if we were their customers.

When our waitress returned to take our dessert order, I commented on the restaurant’s smooth, almost rhythmic operation.

She revealed the secret: Full Hands In, Full Hands Out.

She explained the simple rule: never go into or out of the kitchen with empty hands. Every time you go in, clear a table and bring dirty dishes. Every time you go out, take a dish that’s ready to be served and deliver it… even if it’s not for your table.

More important than the fast, efficient service, there is an air of collaboration that elevates the restaurant. No one is in competition with anyone else. Rather, they work together to create a great experience for all customers.

And this collaborative culture is not driven by money – they don’t share tips. Instead, they share a common commitment: to create a memorable experience for all Coopers Hawk diners.
How can we apply this concept to any workplace?

• Answer a client’s request, don’t just send her to someone’s voicemail
• Share information with other sales team members
• Refill the paper in the copier
• Pick up garbage in the hall, even if it’s not yours
• Take initiative to solve a problem affecting all clients
• Make suggestions to improve an internal process that benefits everyone

With Full Hands In, Full Hands Out, we’re in this together!

The Metropolitan Transportation Agency spent years automating the NYC subway operations: vending machines, mapping apps, electronic fare payment. Obviating the need for human interaction to ride the subway.

And then last week they deployed a crew of “Wayfinders” – customer service ambassadors positioned at subway stations to greet people, answer questions, help anyone hurt or sick, and offer route advice. Why? Wayfinders are able to serve people individually, in ways technology falls short.

A similar “Wayfinder” experience occurred on my recent JetBlue flight. Waiting at the gate, everyone knew the flight was delayed. We saw it on the airport monitors; we received text updates on our phones. Aggravations were simmering, and the automated updates failed to placate.

And then suddenly Captain Jerry came out to the gate area. He shared inside information about why the inbound flight was delayed. He described the conditions that we could expect once we got airborne; he even interacted with us about the football game erupting on the televisions. And as he walked back onto the plane to prepare the cockpit, he playfully said, “If you all drink responsibly, I promise to drive responsibly!”

The crowd loved him!  Our frustrations were instantly abated.

We are surrounded by automation, while starved for human connection.

The subway wasn’t less crowded or more efficient. My flight didn’t take off on time. But the Wayfinders certainly diffused our irritation, and that made the difference.

Where are you depending on technology or automation at the expense of a human connection? Even a phone call instead of an email or a text could shift the experience for you and another.

I’ve seen these Wayfinders in action – they were having a lot more fun than Alexa or Siri, and as a result, so did we.

I walked into a workshop this week to find 6 people in the room:

• A large Italian man who looked like a body-builder
• A shy, tattooed man with a soft voice and wide eyes
• A calm, completely bald man wearing a Hawaiian shirt
• An outspoken, older Asian-American woman with long, gray hair
• A tall blond woman with a girlish voice and dramatic bangs
• A young, stylish African-American man sporting a flat-rimmed cap backwards

When the workshop started, the facilitator asked us to stand up and share, not what we do for a living, but a story about what led us to do what we do.

Here’s what I discovered:

• The large man is a chiropractor who takes steroids for an incurable disease.
• The tattooed man is an ex-convict who saved his soul through his health and is now a physical trainer for executives.
• The bald man grew up in a Buddhist monastery and is now a sought-after business coach.
• The Asian-American woman turned to nature to find sobriety and now runs a non-profit focused on the environment.
• The blond grew up mute and dyslexic and is now a PhD in learning behaviors.
• The African-American man grew up in the projects and is now a financially independent entrepreneur. (And he is engaged to the blond – they met on Tinder.)

Had we introduced ourselves with only our job titles, we would have been left with the assumptions we made about each other and the stories we have about those titles… never allowing us to connect deeply. We would have heard: I’m a chiropractor. I’m a personal trainer. I’m a coach. I’m a non-profit director. I’m a doctorate. I’m a businessman.

Instead, we experienced an unexpected Breakfast Club moment.

What we look like is not who we are. What we do is not who we are. Our journey is who we are. Titles shortchange us of discovering the journey – the why behind the title. Without the journey, we are left with our stories and assumptions. And as a result, our connections remain shallow and lack trust.

So let’s not stop at, “What do you do?”

Let’s dig deeper and ask, “What led you to that role?” “What was your journey?” or “What’s your story?”