Devil's Advocacy

What is devil’s advocacy?

Devil’s advocacy is the deliberate assignment or adoption of a contrary position to examine an idea’s assumptions and weaknesses. The devil’s advocate presenting the objection need not believe it.

Devil’s advocacy versus genuine dissent

That distinction matters. Nemeth, Brown, and Rogers (2001) compared authentic minority dissent with several forms of assigned devil’s advocacy. Authentic dissent produced more and better solutions in their study. An assigned challenge should therefore not be assumed to reproduce the benefits of genuine disagreement.

Using devil’s advocacy in a discussion

A team considering a product launch might ask one member to argue that the plan will fail. The useful questions are concrete:

• Which assumption could be wrong?
• What evidence would change the decision?
• What has the team overlooked?

An appointed critic can organize that discussion, but should not replace people’s freedom to voice their actual concerns. Playing a role and disagreeing sincerely are different things.