METACOGNITION: THE 7th CAP
Posted on May 20th, 2011 by MichaelThe Grey Thinking CAP is the Metacognition Cap.
At a leadership convention in Melbourne I was asked to add one more cap (or hat) to the original 6 thinking caps developed by SOT in 1983.
I added the 7th Cap for Metacognition which is the Grey Thinking Cap/Hat. The Metacognition Cap is the Wisdom Cap.
Of all the Thinking Hats–White, Black, Yellow, Red, Green, Blue–the Grey Hat (or Cap) is also the Senior Hat.
(Master Vincent van Gogh’s Self Portrait with Grey Hat, Paris, 1887)
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EXPERIENCE + KNOWLEDGE = WISDOM
wisdom n. experience and knowledge together
with the power of applying them critically or practically
- Oxford English Dictionary
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FROM BLACK HAT TO GREY HAT
is all about the escape
from judgmental thinking to wisdom.
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Survival is clever and requires intelligence. Long term survival endows wisdom and this is a very clever thing, indeed
From the hard-won accomplishment of longevity emerges broad experience and special knowledge. It cannot be taught. It also offers a deep appreciation of the role that sheer random luck plays in long term survival.
I am dedicating this hat to my father who was one of the wisest people I have ever known. He had a great deal of life experience. In WWII he had served and survived in two theatres of war in the Middle East and in New Guinea.
Before the war, in Melbourne, he received a classical education. He was widely read, had a great deal of knowledge and common sense and was known for his generosity, his cheerful demeanour and lively sense of humour. He was also very lucky. He survived bowel cancer, completely, and other narrow escapes.
Dad used to always say, “Nobody’s perfect”. How wise he was!
Martin Joseph Hewitt-Gleeson • 15.11.1919 – 09.08.2003
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The Grey Thinking Hat is for Wisdom.
May 24th, 2011 at 11:03 pm
My so called wisdom tooth on the left side had to be yanked out in 2003 when I was 40 years old. Half my wisdom out? Ha! Ha! Ha!
May 22nd, 2011 at 4:39 am
Wisdom is a beautiful quality it implies experience and knowledge and also learning from experience. I don’t know if there is quick way to get this .
May 21st, 2011 at 2:18 am
i also love the idea that “everyone is perfect” and that it is at least as useful a starting as cvstobvs. helps me to remember rule # 6.[ don't takes things too damn seriously]. also frequently want to remember your way of rating claims for the “a lie to a truth” greyscale i.e. claim/ who? what? when? where? how? and sometimes why?
May 20th, 2011 at 10:38 pm
According to Richard Hanson in his book, the “Buddha’s Brain”, the three main cornerstones of happiness are Virtue, Mindfulness and Wisdom. Thses are suporred by the brain’s Regulating, Learning snd Selecting functions of the brain. Since Michael has identified Wisdom as the seventh hat, perhaps Virtue and Mindfulness are the eighth and ninth hats?