Parallel thinking is an alternative to the traditional argument or adversarial thinking model and facilitates consensus whilst giving everyone the opportunity to share their views.
With traditional adversarial thinking each side takes a different position and then seeks to prove that the other side is wrong. The problem with adversarial thinking is that it lacks a constructive or creative element.
With parallel thinking all parties are thinking in the same direction at the same time. The direction itself can be changed in order to give a full scan of the situation, but thinking is co-operative and co-ordinated.
This doesn’t mean there always has to be agreement. Thoughts which are contradictory, are not argued out but given the opportunity to be expressed and considered as the way forward is 'designed' from the parallel thought that has been laid out.
We use de Bono’s Six Hats parallel thinking method to facilitate productive creative sessions and to speed up the process of reaching a satisfactory solution for our clients.