Retro format 21 of 27
Six Thinking Hats retrospective
Look at one topic six ways in turn: facts, feelings, risks, benefits, ideas and process.
- 60–60 min
- 2 to 10 people
- Works remote
Good for
A big decision or a heated topic. Everyone thinks the same way at the same time, so debate stays calm.
Facilitator tip
Everyone wears the same hat at the same time. Stop people jumping to the black hat early.
The Six Thinking Hats board, drawn out.
6 areas: White: facts, Red: feelings, Black: risks, Yellow: benefits, Green: ideas, Blue: process. Draw the columns on your whiteboard before the retro. Here's what a software team might put in each.
1White: facts
Cycle time is 6.2 days, up from 4
2Red: feelings
Nervous about Friday deploys
3Black: risks
Trunk-based could break main for everyone
4Yellow: benefits
Smaller, faster reviews
5Green: ideas
Try it on one service for two sprints
6Blue: process
Decide at the next retro, with data
How to run a Six Thinking Hats retrospective.
About 60 minutes as written. Change the length in the agenda builder below and every step scales with it.
- 1
Check in
5 min
Say why you're here and that the retro is about the system, not people. Go through last retro's action items: done, in progress, or dropped on purpose.
- 2
Name the topic
3 min
One topic, like 'Our release process' or 'Moving to trunk-based development'.
- 3
White and red hats
10 min
Facts and data first (cycle time, incidents, deploy count), then gut feelings without explanation.
- 4
Black and yellow hats
12 min
Risks and problems, then benefits and what works.
- 5
Green hat
10 min
Ideas and alternatives. No criticism in this round.
- 6
Blue hat
5 min
What did we learn, and what do we decide?
- 7
Agree action items
10 min
Pick one to three actions from the top topics. Each gets one owner and a due date, and goes into the next sprint's backlog, not only the retro notes.
- 8
Close
5 min
Read the actions and owners back. Ask everyone to rate the retro 1 to 5 (return on time invested) and change one thing next time if the scores are low.
Prompts to put on the board.
Read one out when the writing stalls, or paste them next to the columns.
- What do the numbers say?
- How do you feel about it, in one sentence?
- What could go wrong?
- What's good about it?
- What else could we try?
Your Six Thinking Hats agenda, timed to your slot.
Fill in the team and the time. Copy the agenda into Confluence, Notion or Google Docs as formatted text, or grab the Markdown.
Length
- 0:00–0:05Check in · 5 min
- 0:05–0:08Name the topic · 3 min
- 0:08–0:18White and red hats · 10 min
- 0:18–0:30Black and yellow hats · 12 min
- 0:30–0:40Green hat · 10 min
- 0:40–0:45Blue hat · 5 min
- 0:45–0:55Agree action items · 10 min
- 0:55–1:00Close · 5 min
Payments team Sprint 14 retro: Six Thinking Hats
Length: 60 min
Look at one topic six ways in turn: facts, feelings, risks, benefits, ideas and process. A big decision or a heated topic. Everyone thinks the same way at the same time, so debate stays calm.
Agenda
| Time | Step | Min |
|---|---|---|
| 0:00–0:05 | Check in | 5 |
| 0:05–0:08 | Name the topic | 3 |
| 0:08–0:18 | White and red hats | 10 |
| 0:18–0:30 | Black and yellow hats | 12 |
| 0:30–0:40 | Green hat | 10 |
| 0:40–0:45 | Blue hat | 5 |
| 0:45–0:55 | Agree action items | 10 |
| 0:55–1:00 | Close | 5 |
How to run each step
- Check in (5 min). Say why you're here and that the retro is about the system, not people. Go through last retro's action items: done, in progress, or dropped on purpose.
- Name the topic (3 min). One topic, like 'Our release process' or 'Moving to trunk-based development'.
- White and red hats (10 min). Facts and data first (cycle time, incidents, deploy count), then gut feelings without explanation.
- Black and yellow hats (12 min). Risks and problems, then benefits and what works.
- Green hat (10 min). Ideas and alternatives. No criticism in this round.
- Blue hat (5 min). What did we learn, and what do we decide?
- Agree action items (10 min). Pick one to three actions from the top topics. Each gets one owner and a due date, and goes into the next sprint's backlog, not only the retro notes.
- Close (5 min). Read the actions and owners back. Ask everyone to rate the retro 1 to 5 (return on time invested) and change one thing next time if the scores are low.
Board
- White: facts
- Red: feelings
- Black: risks
- Yellow: benefits
- Green: ideas
- Blue: process
Prompts
- What do the numbers say?
- How do you feel about it, in one sentence?
- What could go wrong?
- What's good about it?
- What else could we try?
Last retro's action items
| Action | Owner | Status |
|---|---|---|
Action items
| Action | Owner | Due |
|---|---|---|
Copy pastes as formatted text into Google Docs, Notion or Confluence. Markdown is for GitHub, Jira or Slack.
Try next, when this one gets stale.
- 08
Timeline
- 60–65 min
- 2 to 20
- Works remote
- 11
Three Little Pigs
- 45–57 min
- 2 to 20
- Great remote
- 15
Five Whys
- 45–55 min
- 2 to 10
- Works remote
Book the retro on a day the whole team is in.
A retro with two people out hears half the sprint, and its actions have no owners. Forgot shows sprints, holidays and time off on one board, so you can see who's out on retro day before you send the invite.
Six Thinking Hats retrospective questions
What is a Six Thinking Hats retrospective?
Look at one topic six ways in turn: facts, feelings, risks, benefits, ideas and process. A big decision or a heated topic. Everyone thinks the same way at the same time, so debate stays calm.
How long does a Six Thinking Hats retro take?
60 minutes at the shortest, and about 60 minutes as written here. The agenda builder on this page stretches or squeezes each step to fit your slot.
Can you run Six Thinking Hats remotely?
Yes, with some prep. Draw the board on a shared whiteboard before the call, and give people a few extra minutes for each step, since it needs more back-and-forth than a column retro.
What goes on a Six Thinking Hats board?
6 areas: White: facts, Red: feelings, Black: risks, Yellow: benefits, Green: ideas, Blue: process. For example, from a software team: White: facts: “Cycle time is 6.2 days, up from 4”; Red: feelings: “Nervous about Friday deploys”; Black: risks: “Trunk-based could break main for everyone”; Yellow: benefits: “Smaller, faster reviews”; Green: ideas: “Try it on one service for two sprints”; Blue: process: “Decide at the next retro, with data”.
What team size is Six Thinking Hats for?
2 to 10 people. With more people, split into groups for the writing and discussion, then bring the top topics back together.
What can I run instead of Six Thinking Hats?
Timeline, Three Little Pigs, Five Whys. They suit similar sprints from a different angle. Rotate formats every two to four sprints so the retro doesn't go stale.