Devil’s Advocates: Truly Evil or Heaven-Sent?

In fact, a Google search on the definition brings up many that assume the devil’s advocate’s role is one intent on ruining creativity, sabotaging ideas, and generally, well, acting devilish. There is much debate on whether they hurt businesses more than they help. In “The Problem with Devil’s Advocates,” Tim Sanders goes on the offensive:

When someone at work has a new idea about a product or a process, we take on the role of devil’s advocate before they’ve even expressed half the idea. We treat them like idiots, posing objections to them in a tone of voice that suggests, “have you even considered the obvious?” We do the same thing at home. Our kid has an idea for a business and we go into skeptic mode, shooting down her enthusiasm before the food hits the table. In every situation, we don’t improve the way the ideator thinks. Research suggests that only authentic dissent (You truly think it’s a bad idea) can provoke a better idea. When you argue for the sake of argument, you merely bolster the ideator’s conviction as well as her feelings that she’s all alone on this one.

However, in “Yes, But! – The Devil’s Advocate in strategic decision making,” Steve Seager, a business consultant and founder of Storywise, defends the use of devil’s advocates as critical to the strategic planning process:

A devil’s advocate’s biggest strength is in arguing ‘against’. Their role: to resist, to point out flaws, risks and alternatives. The ‘Yes, BUT’ mentality is a naturally challenging one whose biggest benefit is in closing old strategic doors and, rather wonderfully, opening new ones.

If you have one of these on your team, actively encourage them to say ‘Yes, BUT!’ These folks will ultimately help you feel more comfortable with the full strategic decision-making process as, thanks to them, you’ll feel you’ve explored every possibility.

Give them half a chance and they will also help identify and uncover any previously unrecognized assumptions in your company. So stopping, or at least uncovering, any confirmation bias.

By shooting down many good strategies with a well-timed ‘Yes, BUT’, these folks also increase both the number and quality of strategic alternatives. Why? ‘Yes, BUT” is a great catalyst for new ideas as it inspires your team to counter the Devil’s argumentation.

Next time your in-house ‘Devil’s Advocate’ jumps on an idea with a ‘Yes, BUT’, don’t think, ‘I must coach them to be more constructive.’ Instead, embrace the conflict. They’re the ones most likely to be the catalyst for your most successful strategies.

Some companies, in fact, have an organized structure to ensure a devil’s advocate is identified and accountable for a role in the process. Consider Adam Bryant’s interview with Ori Hadomi, C.E.O. of Mazor Robotics, a medical technology company, published in the New York Times:

Q. What are some of the patterns you’ve seen in the company’s mistakes?

A. One of the most obvious mistakes we found is that too often we choose to believe in an optimistic scenario — we think too positively. Positive thinking is important to a certain extent when you want to motivate people, when you want to show them possibilities for the future. But it’s very dangerous when you plan based on that. So one of our takeaways from that was to appoint one of the executive members as a devil’s advocate.

Q. Really?

A. He’s actually very challenging and he knows how to ask the right questions. He really makes sure to say to me, “Let’s be more humble with our assumptions.” And the most surprising thing that he’s the V.P. of sales for international markets. You would expect the V.P. of sales to be pie-in-the-sky all the time. But he has a very strong, critical way of thinking, and it is so constructive. I feel that in a way, one of the risks of leadership is thinking too positively when you plan and set expectations.

I tend to agree that devil’s advocates are a good thing, as I have direct experience working with several. My interactions with them, while initially frustrating, eventually showed me how valuable they could be in my success. Knowing they would be there to question me forced me to do much more homework up front than I normally would have – I wanted to be ready for what I knew was coming. In some cases, I determined during that process that my idea wasn’t the greatest thing after all and saved everyone a lot of time – not to mention saved myself embarrassment.

Again, assuming we’re not talking about a Negative Ned or Nellie, but a colleague with truly good intentions, your devil’s advocate can be beneficial to your organization and to your own success – helping ensure a thoughtful and insightful discussion during brainstorming and planning processes.