The Devil’s Advocate Is Dead—Let It Stay That Way
Some bad ideas just won’t die.
Last week, I came across an article from a top-tier consulting firm discussing Groupthink—that silent killer of good decisions, where the desire for harmony suppresses legitimate concerns. Their big solution? Appoint a Devil’s Advocate.
Sigh.
You’ve probably been in that room. Someone says, “Let’s play Devil’s Advocate,” thinking that assigning someone to poke holes in the plan will help uncover blind spots and sharpen the team’s thinking.
It sounds smart. It even feels rigorous.
But it’s not.
The Devil’s in the (False) Security
Designating a Devil’s Advocate doesn’t just fail to solve the problem—it often makes it worse. As outlined in The Sheep in Wolf’s Clothing, the Devil’s Advocate approach lulls teams into a false sense of security. 400 years ago the Catholic Church created the role to scrutinize candidates for sainthood. 40 years ago, they scrapped it. Why? Because it didn’t work. No one wanted to speak ill of someone who was already halfway to canonization.
In the business world, it’s no different. Studies show that “assigned” Devil’s Advocates pull their punches—especially when their arguments start to gain traction. Why sabotage consensus when the team is on the brink of agreement? Why risk personal relationships or derail a deal that might benefit you?
The result? Fake conflict. And worse—fake confidence. Everyone leaves the room believing the decision was battle-tested when, in fact, it was barely challenged.
Real Dissent Takes Real Courage
The best leaders don’t rely on artificial opposition. They build authentic dissent into the decision-making process. That takes discipline—and guts.
There are two approaches:
- Internal dissent: Build teams with genuinely conflicting interests. When people come to the table with different priorities, effective debate happens naturally.
- External dissent: When diversity of thought isn’t available in-house, bring it in—even if you have to pay for it. Warren Buffett famously insisted that at least one advisor on a deal only gets paid if the deal falls through. Why? Because most advisors benefit when the deal goes through—so someone needs an incentive to say, “Wait.”
The Devil’s Advocate was buried by the Church decades ago. Researchers debunked it over 15 years ago.
So why are we still propping up this lifeless idea?
It’s time to stop playacting dissent—and start demanding the real thing.
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