Edward de Bono’s Six Thinking Hats is a technique designed to help individuals deliberately adopt a variety of perspectives on a subject that may be very different from the one that they might most naturally assume. In wearing a particular thinking hat, people play roles, or "as if" themselves into a particular perspective. For instance, one could play the devil’s advocate, even if only for the sake of generating discussion.



The purpose of devil’s advocacy is to deliberately challenge an idea: be critical, look for what is wrong with it. Note that a devil’s advocate does not necessarily believe in the viewpoint that he or she presents, but only behaves as if he or she did. Wise decision makers surround themselves with individuals with a variety of perspectives, even those that are in opposition to their own, to enable them to test the soundness of their decisions.