The yellow hat: optimism and positive thinking
Our brains are more accustomed to dealing with negativity, so the yellow hat is more challenging to wear than the black one. While it’s essential to consider the possible dangers, it’s just as vital to look on the bright side and think about the benefits an idea can bring. Edward de Bono encourages the development of value sensitivity, which means being aware of the advantages and disadvantages. We frequently disregard our ideas because we don’t see value in them. The yellow hat inspires us to search for the benefits of any concept.
“Being positive is a choice.”
Edward de Bono
The yellow hat is speculative because it deals with potential benefits that can only appear in the future. We determine whether we want to do something based on the idea’s worth. While there are a few people for whom positive thinking is second nature, the yellow hat helps those leaning toward negativity. It’s also important to remember that finding benefits in an idea is not always possible. Positivity is a spectrum, and there’s such a thing as being positive to a fault. But optimism should generally have some degree of logical grounding because ideas that seem impossible at first glance can become successful with a bit of positive thinking.
⚡️The yellow hat is speculative. Its primary focus is on the what-ifs.
We shouldn’t confuse the yellow hat with the red. If the positives of an idea depend on intuition alone, they belong to the emotional stage. The yellow hat accounts for justification not characteristic of the red hat. Thinking here depends on past experiences, guesses, trends, and logical assumptions. This hat is the first exploration stage: we see the possibility and work towards it after assessing the benefits and justifying that our plan will work out.
It shouldn’t be confused with the green one: a person can see huge positives but lack creativity. The yellow hat is not focused on novelty but rather on efficiency. Its constructive nature aims to generate ideas that are sure to work out.