Biomimicry and The Hats!

Six Thinking Hats was written by Dr. Edward de Bono. "Six Thinking Hats" and the associated idea parallel thinking provide a means for groups to plan thinking processes in a detailed and cohesive way, and in doing so to think together more effectively.

This is Wikipedia's understanding of the Six Thinking Hats. However, the session by Mr. Shiva Subramaniam Chief Innovation Officer, Gopalakrishnan-Deshpande Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (GDC) at IIT, Madras provided a deeper and more functional understanding of what the Six Thinking Hats mean.

One of the key takeaways from this session for me, was the idea of creativity and how it can be understood and better measured. Mr. Shiva Shubramaniam mentioned that Creativity is important. That creativity makes sense if we use it for larger purposes and not define it into a narrow process. Creativity gives meaning. He asks, "How can we use creativity for having a meaningful life. Can we have creativity to solve big problems in the world?" The questions that got me thinking for many a days after the session. 

I consider my creative outlet to be writing. As I write, I feel like I can unravel the thoughts that are previously bundled up in my mind and create a more meaningful tapestry of emotions and words that are actionable. And this alludes to the six thinking hats mindmap that was discussed by Mr. Shiva Subramaniam earlier. Although I am backpedalling to an idea that was discussed previously, there is merit to creating a connect between creativity and design process of the six thinking hats.

The Blue Hat standing for Process Control, usually worn by the one that presides over meetings. We need to understand that wearing this hat necessitates outlining of purpose. We need to think and understand to the root cause of situations. 

The Green Hat, perhaps the one I wear most often, the one of creativity where an INFP like me can thrive - in the world of imagination and possibilities and ideas, where nothing is impossible. 

The White Hat that seeks to bring the INFP in me back to earth with its calculative mindset. Facts and resoning without  judgement - being objective in our understanding of scenarios. It probably ought to be worn more frequently by me.

The Red Hat that denotes feelings, another that I wear frequently, where feelings trump sensing in my books. There is gut feelings and instinct involved and you learn to trust your implicit understanding of ideas.

The Yellow Hat that looks at the bright side of processes and imaginings - a most favourable one.

The Black Hat is one that perhaps is what outlines and facilitates these musings - the one that highlights weaknesses, risks, difficulties and dangers. 

From learning about the Hats, we moved on to the idea of mapping our thoughts. After a student was asked to talk about their school experience, we learnt about how a mindmap can be created using these thinking hats. For instance, the thinking hats would be at the core of the map with branches leading in different directions for different hats. An illustration provided by Mr. Shiva Shubramaniam brought to the fore the crux of the idea.

We then moved on to what fascinated me the most a student of Biology. Biomimicry - Using creativity for creating purpose. The belief that nature has the answer to every problem in the world and the work we need to do to pick up these principles and apply these in our lives.
The example he provided of the Lotus leaf with the fine microstructures that cleans away the water with the dirt, leaving the leaf clean was an example that resonated with me. 

Nature is an engineer, and perhaps that is the most beautiful takeaway from this lesson.