Is the Devil's Advocate playing your team?

We've all heard the phrase "playing the devil's advocate". I submit that sometimes the devil's advocate is playing your team, rather than playing on it.

According to Wikipedia...

"...a devil's advocate is someone who takes a position for the sake of argument."

The phrase is commonly used when...

"...the speaker is about to say something counter to the perceived group consensus and does not want to be personally ostracized."

In Creating Passionate Users, author Kathy Sierra mocks...

"...invoking this awesome protective power lets the devil's advocate be incredibly negative and slash your idea to shreds, while appearing not only innocent but reasoned, balanced, intelligent—all attributes loaded with business 'goodness'.

"If not for the devil's advocate—its insinuated—we'd all be off blundering with our stupid ideas, oblivious to the insurmountable problems we were too clueless to see."

For the devil's advocate, debate is usually nothing personal. It is merely a game of sport—an exercise in opposition. The more unpopular the stance the more exciting the challenge.

Often the advocate begins by saying something like...

• "Have you considered this?"
• "I'm not trying to be negative, but..."
• "It's your call, but..."

While there is always value in looking at issues from multiple points of view, the devil's advocates apply this technique to any thought or idea that is not their own.

The problem?

In addition to deterring others from proposing new ideas and stifling innovation—in most cases—the time to research the to-be-denounced gaps in thinking could have been better spent finding ways to fill those gaps—or bringing your concerns to the attention of those preparing the meeting before it begins.

Unfortunately, supporting the team's out-of-the-box ideas is something contrary to the average advocate's nature.

Whatever the debate, devil's advocates live to take the opposing view—at times even convincing themselves that this "uncanny flaw-finding ability" is their primary strength.

TOMORROW: Dealing with the Devil's Advocate