The difference between brilliant and mediocre teams isn\’t so much in their collective mental capacity, but in how well they can tap into their collective wisdom and how well they function together. As a CPO you need to interact with different teams and stake holders. Getting buy-in from all the key stake holders can be a difficult task.

I recently got to speak to a CPO who used Edward de Bono’s methodology to ensure that right decision is being made and with conviction of all team members. The CPO used Edward de Bono’s methodology of 6 thinking hats. It is a simple, systematic and effective way of getting responses and ensuring that the right decision is being made. It eliminates the risk of big egos, gets full participation and helps reduce bad discussion. The basic concept is each member of the team takes turns in wearing one of the thinking hats. This is a great way to pool the teams resources and thoughts and breaks the cycle of being termed as Mr Negative or Miss Emotional.

CPO’s Approach to Manage Meetings – Make the Team don 6 Thinking Hats

The member in Blue hat manages the entire discussion by being goal and objective oriented and the combined discussion is made by each member bringing their perspective emotions (red hat), creativity (green hat), data and information (white hat), caution (black hat), optimistic and seeking harmony (yellow hat).

Here are some advantages of using the approach of 6 thinking hats as mentioned by the CPO:
• Getting creative solutions can become a norm
• Increase productivity and efficiency
• Arriving at the right solution quickly with a shared vision
• Maximize and organize each person’s thoughts and ideas
• Avoid poor decision making by knowing how to dig deeper
• Helpful in conducting critical meetings and keeping egos and bad decisions at bay