Facilitation
Six Thinking Hats retrospective template
Run a Six Thinking Hats retrospective online for free: facts, feelings, risks, benefits, ideas and process. No sign-up.
Opens a new board with these columns, right in your browser.
What is the Six Thinking Hats retrospective?
Six Thinking Hats, from Edward de Bono, splits thinking into six modes: facts (white), feelings (red), risks (black), benefits (yellow), ideas (green) and process (blue). Looking at the same topic through each hat in turn stops arguments where one person argues risks while another argues ideas. In Peel, each hat is a column.
The columns
- Facts
- Feelings
- Risks
- Benefits
- Ideas
- Process
When to use it
Use it to examine one big decision or project in depth, when discussions keep going in circles, or when a team has strong optimists and strong sceptics.
How to run it in Peel in 5 steps
- Create a Six thinking hats board and name the topic in the board title.
- Work through the hats in rounds: write Facts first, reveal, then Feelings, and so on.
- Keep Risks and Benefits as separate rounds so neither side dominates.
- Use Ideas to propose options, then vote on them.
- Finish with Process: decide next steps and who owns them.
Frequently asked questions
Do we need all six columns?
For a full decision review, yes. For a quick retro, use a simpler format like Plus / Delta.
Why the colours?
Each hat in de Bono's method has a colour. Peel shows the mode in words so it is clear in every language.