Some months ago a Nobel prize economist told me that at the top level economics meeting in the US they had been using my Six Hats method. This is now in wide use around the world because it is so much better a way of exploring a subject than argument wandering discussion. Meeting times are reduced to one quarter or even one tenth of the normal time. Most important, every person present has to contribute fully - not just in the usual critical mode.
The purpose of thinking is to enjoy and to deliver our values. But what are those values? Everyone is aware of the importance of values. If pressed, almost everyone can spell out the values that matter. There is a lot of ‘lip-service’. There is almost as much lip-service about values as about creativity and innovation. These things are important but talking about them is much less trouble than acting on them. To be seen to consider all values is what matters most.
Values are vague, general and poorly defined. We know what they are and we can recognise them, but looking for them is not easy because they are far from concrete. Why do we give names to vegetables? You would recognise a tomato even if it had no name. It would not be so easy to go into a greengrocer and ask for ‘those round red shiny vegetables that we use in salads’. It is very much easier to ask for ‘tomatoes’.
PERCEPTION
Perception is a key part of thinking. Research at Harvard has shown that 90% of the errors in thinking are errors of perception. Improving perception through my thinking programmes in schools has a dramatic effect. In one case, teaching this thinking to youngsters in a special school, which took youngsters too violent to be taught in normal schools, reduced the actual rate of criminal convictions over a 20-yearperiod to one tenth of the rate for those not taught thinking. This is powerful stuff.
With perception we can only see what we are prepared to see. The untutored eye looking a painting sees only that the painting is agreeable. The art critic can focus on the composition, the space, the brushwork, etc. etc.
In watching a game of soccer you actually see much more if you know some of the possible plays and can then see them in action.
If a person who is born blind is suddenly enabled to see then it takes quite a while for that person to see things. The brain has to get used to recognising shapes and forms. It is very much the same with values. Unless we have a clear picture of the different values it is not easy to see them.
Furthermore, it is not enough just to see values. We also need to talk about them and to discuss them. We
need to compare the different values in alternative courses of action. The Six Hats provides a language for talking about thinking and the new framework provides a means for focussing on values and talking about them. The new framework is THE SIX VALUE MEDALS. The metaphor of the ‘medal’ has been chosen because a medal is a reward. In the same way, if you deliver value you deserve a reward.
GOLD MEDAL
The Gold Medal represents ‘human values’. These are the values that matter to people. There can be positive values and also negative values. Being ignored or humiliated are obvious negative values. Being appreciated and having your contribution recognised are positive human values. When GE asked its creative people what reward they wanted for creative effort, the simple answer was ‘recognition’. They wanted someone to recognise they had contributed an idea.
SILVER MEDAL
Silver Medal values represent ‘organisation values’. Most often it would be a business corporation but organisations can include families, governments, clubs, teams, etc. The most obvious Silver Medal value is survival. If the organisation does not survive then not much else matters to that organisation. There maybe a clash of values if the ‘shareholder’ group wants the organisation wound up. There are obvious Silver Medal values like profits, market share and brand equity. Having happy and hard-working employees may need to combine Gold Medal values with Silver Medal values.
STEEL MEDAL
Steel with poor quality is poor steel. The Steel Medal values are directly quality values. Quality means that whatever is being done is done with quality, whether it is a service or a product. Quality means fulfilling the desired or offered function. A camera which takes poor quality pictures is a poor quality camera. A cafe with very slow service is a poor quality cafe. There are many programmes directed at quality management and improvement and most of them do a good job. The Steel Medal Values area way of recognising such values, not an attempt to teach how to get them.
Again there may be a clash of values. Improvement in Steel Medal values might mean an increase in production costs (like employing more people in the cafe) and this may impact Silver Medal values by reducing profitability. In the long run, however, poor quality will affect Silver Medal values through loss of business or losing out to better quality competition. If we believe that quality is essential then there is no clash of values at this point.
OTHER MEDALS
There are three other medals. The Glass Medal is for innovation, creativity and change. The Wood Medal is for ecological values in the broadest sense - not just nature. The Brass Medal is for perceptual values because brass looks like gold but is not. These other medals are described in more detail in the book SIX VALUE MEDALS (published by Vermillion Press in the UK, March 2005).
One of the advantages of having a perceptual framework is that it becomes possible to lay out the values in a ‘value map’. This means that comparative values may be seen at a glance. It becomes possible to see where the values are strong, where they are weak and where they are negative. Two such value displays are suggested in the book.
The idea of a ‘negative’ value is really a contradiction in terms, because values are seen as positive. But if we take the broader view of values as something which ‘influences’ or ‘has an effect’ then that effect may be positive or negative. There is no need to indicate the positive values as such but there is a need to indicate ‘negative’ values.
To describe negative values as ‘harm’ or ‘danger’ is weak and makes it difficult to see all the different values at a glance. Having the concept of positive and negative values makes it possible to scan them all on the same sheet.
LABELS
As people become familiar with the Six Value Medal system, the values may come to be referred to simply as ‘Gold Values’ or ‘Steel Values’. There is no need to keep repeating the ‘medal’ part.
The importance of the labels is that they provide a perceptual framework which makes values more tangible. The framework also allows us to focus more clearly on the different values and so to see where they are strong and where they are weak or even negative.
The purpose of thinking is to enjoy and to deliver our values. But what are those values? Everyone is aware of the importance of values. If pressed, almost everyone can spell out the values that matter. There is a lot of ‘lip-service’. There is almost as much lip-service about values as about creativity and innovation. These things are important but talking about them is much less trouble than acting on them. To be seen to consider all values is what matters most.
Values are vague, general and poorly defined. We know what they are and we can recognise them, but looking for them is not easy because they are far from concrete. Why do we give names to vegetables? You would recognise a tomato even if it had no name. It would not be so easy to go into a greengrocer and ask for ‘those round red shiny vegetables that we use in salads’. It is very much easier to ask for ‘tomatoes’.
PERCEPTION
Perception is a key part of thinking. Research at Harvard has shown that 90% of the errors in thinking are errors of perception. Improving perception through my thinking programmes in schools has a dramatic effect. In one case, teaching this thinking to youngsters in a special school, which took youngsters too violent to be taught in normal schools, reduced the actual rate of criminal convictions over a 20-yearperiod to one tenth of the rate for those not taught thinking. This is powerful stuff.
With perception we can only see what we are prepared to see. The untutored eye looking a painting sees only that the painting is agreeable. The art critic can focus on the composition, the space, the brushwork, etc. etc.
In watching a game of soccer you actually see much more if you know some of the possible plays and can then see them in action.
If a person who is born blind is suddenly enabled to see then it takes quite a while for that person to see things. The brain has to get used to recognising shapes and forms. It is very much the same with values. Unless we have a clear picture of the different values it is not easy to see them.
Furthermore, it is not enough just to see values. We also need to talk about them and to discuss them. We
need to compare the different values in alternative courses of action. The Six Hats provides a language for talking about thinking and the new framework provides a means for focussing on values and talking about them. The new framework is THE SIX VALUE MEDALS. The metaphor of the ‘medal’ has been chosen because a medal is a reward. In the same way, if you deliver value you deserve a reward.
GOLD MEDAL
The Gold Medal represents ‘human values’. These are the values that matter to people. There can be positive values and also negative values. Being ignored or humiliated are obvious negative values. Being appreciated and having your contribution recognised are positive human values. When GE asked its creative people what reward they wanted for creative effort, the simple answer was ‘recognition’. They wanted someone to recognise they had contributed an idea.
SILVER MEDAL
Silver Medal values represent ‘organisation values’. Most often it would be a business corporation but organisations can include families, governments, clubs, teams, etc. The most obvious Silver Medal value is survival. If the organisation does not survive then not much else matters to that organisation. There maybe a clash of values if the ‘shareholder’ group wants the organisation wound up. There are obvious Silver Medal values like profits, market share and brand equity. Having happy and hard-working employees may need to combine Gold Medal values with Silver Medal values.
STEEL MEDAL
Steel with poor quality is poor steel. The Steel Medal values are directly quality values. Quality means that whatever is being done is done with quality, whether it is a service or a product. Quality means fulfilling the desired or offered function. A camera which takes poor quality pictures is a poor quality camera. A cafe with very slow service is a poor quality cafe. There are many programmes directed at quality management and improvement and most of them do a good job. The Steel Medal Values area way of recognising such values, not an attempt to teach how to get them.
Again there may be a clash of values. Improvement in Steel Medal values might mean an increase in production costs (like employing more people in the cafe) and this may impact Silver Medal values by reducing profitability. In the long run, however, poor quality will affect Silver Medal values through loss of business or losing out to better quality competition. If we believe that quality is essential then there is no clash of values at this point.
OTHER MEDALS
There are three other medals. The Glass Medal is for innovation, creativity and change. The Wood Medal is for ecological values in the broadest sense - not just nature. The Brass Medal is for perceptual values because brass looks like gold but is not. These other medals are described in more detail in the book SIX VALUE MEDALS (published by Vermillion Press in the UK, March 2005).
One of the advantages of having a perceptual framework is that it becomes possible to lay out the values in a ‘value map’. This means that comparative values may be seen at a glance. It becomes possible to see where the values are strong, where they are weak and where they are negative. Two such value displays are suggested in the book.
The idea of a ‘negative’ value is really a contradiction in terms, because values are seen as positive. But if we take the broader view of values as something which ‘influences’ or ‘has an effect’ then that effect may be positive or negative. There is no need to indicate the positive values as such but there is a need to indicate ‘negative’ values.
To describe negative values as ‘harm’ or ‘danger’ is weak and makes it difficult to see all the different values at a glance. Having the concept of positive and negative values makes it possible to scan them all on the same sheet.
LABELS
As people become familiar with the Six Value Medal system, the values may come to be referred to simply as ‘Gold Values’ or ‘Steel Values’. There is no need to keep repeating the ‘medal’ part.
The importance of the labels is that they provide a perceptual framework which makes values more tangible. The framework also allows us to focus more clearly on the different values and so to see where they are strong and where they are weak or even negative.
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