Surefire Innovation Killer - the Devil's Advocate

Just began reading a fascinating new book by IDEO, Ten Faces of Innovation - an in-depth look into the roles people can play in an organisation to foster innovation and new ideas while offering an effective counter to naysayers.

The thing is, we've all been there. That crucial meeting where you present an idea you are passionate about. A ground-swell of support and suddenly a dreadful end to the optimism when someone opens up with the words: 'Let's just play the Devil's Advocate for a moment..'

' Having invoked the awesome protective power of that seemingly innocuous phrase, the speaker feels entirely free to take potshots at your idea, and does so with complete impunity. Because they are not really your harshest critic. They are essentially saying, 'The Devil made me do it'. They are removing themselves from the equation and sidestepping individual responsibility for the verbal attack. But before they are done they've torched your fledgling concept.'

The Devil's Advocate gambit is extraordinary but certainly not uncommon, since it strikes so regularly in the project rooms and board rooms all across the world. What's both sad and astonishing is how much punch is packed into that simple phrase, and how much people have to struggle to pull their idea from the ground when someone has finished. It seems it is perfectly legitimate to criticise, without offering any solutions to the problems highlighted. I would often like to say that "if you can't make the idea better by what you are going to say - then keep quiet", but you can seldom say that to more senior people and even if you would, it still struggles to pack as much punch as a Devil's Advocate statement.

So why do they do it? The Devil's Advocate role, as it is really a role, like any other - encourages idea-wreckers to assume the most negative possible perspective, one that only sees the downside, the problems, the disasters-in-waiting. Once those floodgates open, they can drown a new initiative in negativity.

Interestingly, a Harvard Business Review article on Level 5 Leadership, mentions the Stockdale paradox as one of the ingredients that make truly innovative leadership happen. The Stockdale paradox is named after James Stockdale, winner of the Medal of Honour, who survived seven years in a Vietcong POW camp by hanging on to two contradictory beliefs: His life couldn't be worse at the moment, and his life would someday be better than ever. Like Stockdale, people who are able to confront the most brutal facts in their current reality, yet simultaneously maintain absolute faith that they would prevail in the end - the ability to hold both disciplines -faith and facts - at the same time, all the time are the ones who overcome the hardest of challenges. In this context, being a Devil's Advocate would not have done anybody any favours, but when the survival of ideas are at stake, people are willing to not accept any responsibility for potentially bury the greatest money-earner ever.

Why should you care? Because innovation is the lifeblood of all organisations, and the Devil's Advocate is toxic to your cause. This is no trivial matter. There is no longer any serious debate about the primacy of innovation to the health and future strength of a corporation. Even the staid British publication The Economist recently claimed, 'Innovation is now recognised as the single most important ingredient in any modern economy'.

There is a growing recognition that fostering a culture of innovation is critical to success, as important as mapping out competitive strategies or maintaining good margins. And while acquisitions can yield synergy, and re-engineering can streamline operations, a culture of innovation may be the ultimate fuel for long-term growth and brand development. Having optimised operations and finances, many companies are now recognising that growth through innovation is their best strategy to compete in a world marketplace in which some of the players may have lower-cost resources.

The Ten Faces of Innovation is a book about innovation with a human face. It's about the individuals and teams that fuel innovation inside great organisations. Because all great movements are ultimately human-powered. Archimedes said, "Give me a place to stand and a lever long enough and I can move the world." The book goes on to describe ten innovation personas, each bringing its own lever, its own tools, its own skills, its own point of view. And when someone combines energy and intelligence with the right lever, they can generate a remarkably powerful force.

It is a book about people, or more specifically, it is about the roles people can play, the hats they can put on, the personas they can adopt. It is not about the luminaries of innovation like Thomas Edison, or even celebrity CEOs like Steve Jobs and Jeffrey Immelt. It is about the unsung heroes who work on  the front lines of entrepreneurship in action, the countless people and teams who make innovation happen day in and day out.

The ten core chapters of the book highlight ten people-centric tools developed at IDEO that you might call talents or roles or personas for innovation. By developing some of these innovation personas, you'll have a chance to put the Devil's Advocate in his place. The concerns about the Devil's Advocate should not be interpreted as some sort of endorsement for a 'yes-man culture'. It is about encouraging constructive debate rather than the stand of the Devil's Advocate, who prefers to tear an idea down with clever criticism and often exhibiting the mean-spirited negativity associated with that role. Meanwhile , the innovation roles are intended to encourage people to stand up for what they believe in.

Comments

[J]

Excellent post. Thanks for sharing! :-)

[panasianbiz]

Hi, I just wanted to say that sounds like a great book you are reading, and I will probably check it out sometime in the near future.

As for the Devil's Advocate thing, I have mixed feelings about the role. On the one hand, you're absolutely right that invoking the phrase suddenly gives people the freedom to attack with total immunity. Some peopl use that to their advantage because they are just inherently negative and want to tear down anything and everything they can. So in this case the Devil's Advocate role is a hindrance to innovation.

On the other hand, playing Devil's Advocate can sometimes reveal flaws in a new plan that might not be readily apparent, especially to someone who is "passionate" about the idea to begin with. In other words, sometimes legitimate feedback can result from this role.