Strategic Analysis Best Practice 2 – advocatus diaboli, The Devil’s Advocate
Shared experience, organizational pride, and/or conflict avoidance can diminish the criticality of data and conclusion assessment; leading to exaggerated optimism and resulting in an organizational pursuit of unrealistic goals. Inflated expectations may drive investment in projects well outside of the organization’s risk tolerance. In today’s aggressive marketplace and under intense shareholder scrutiny, missteps like these can be disastrous for a company and its executive team.[wcm_restrict plans=”40713, 25542, 25653″]
Employing a Devil’s Advocate throughout the assessment and decision-making processes helps prevent the unintended consequences of group-think. As a contrarian, the Devil’s Advocate deliberately assumes a position opposed to the consensus viewpoint. He or she actively seeks opportunities to discredit supporting information and challenge seemingly logical conclusions. By attacking the group’s position, the Devil’s Advocate demands a rigorous defense be presented by the evaluating group; ultimately strengthening the final decision.
The Devil’s Advocate is itself a challenging position to fill. Some organizations have one or more individuals who naturally assume this role. For those not having a resident skeptic, the position of Devil’s Advocate can be assigned on a rotational basis in order to share the wealth. In either case, the contrarian qualities of critical thinking and questioning attitude are worthy of development in all managers and executives.
Additional Information
Additional information regarding strategic analysis can be found in the StrategyDriven whitepaper series Strategic Planning[/wcm_restrict][wcm_nonmember plans=”40713, 25542, 25653″]
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About the Author
Nathan Ives is a StrategyDriven Principal and Host of the StrategyDriven Podcast. For over twenty years, he has served as trusted advisor to executives and managers at dozens of Fortune 500 and smaller companies in the areas of management effectiveness, organizational development, and process improvement. To read Nathan’s complete biography, click here.
