The Devil's Advocate view on a team may be in complete opposition to everyone else. It may also be the unpopular voice in the room.
At the same time, the devil’s advocate voice can point to an area which needs to be addressed or changed. This perspective can be very important when change is ongoing.
Rather than vilifying the voice of the devil’s advocate, it could be useful to invite their perspective around issues of importance. This may tease out alternative viewpoints, unforeseen risks, assumptions the team is making, or unpopular views.
How can the voice of the "Devil's Advocate" be useful to you as a team right now?
Many teams feel that they may remote the voice to the dissenter if he or she leaves the team, but note that it's likely that that voice will re-emerge if changes are not made at the deeper level of the team's system (it's culture, roles, how they do things, norms etc).
What is important to note on your team right now about key issues and the Devil’s Advocate view?
Best wishes,
Jennifer
Leadership | Teamwork | Business Success
Author of multiple books including Effective Virtual Conversations (2017), PlanDoTrack (2019) and From One to Many: Best Practices for Team and Group Coaching (2013)
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