What about the possibility that the answer to “Is playing Devil’s Advocate a good strategy?” is context-dependent?
There could be a set of psychological answers (possibly different for different kind of personalities) to the question applied to individual behavior—as in “would it help a type X person (on average) to overcome its biases and/or to think more creatively?”
And there could be a set of sociological answers (possibly different for different types or organizations, like schools, firms, research centers, etc.) to the question applied to organizational behavior—as in “would it help (on average) to always/sometimes have a “red team” that tries to shoot down the main team’s theories?”
On the latter point, I have heard that the EU’s Directorate General for Competition policy was quite happy with the introduction of a “Devil’s Advocate” policy a few years ago. Assuming the policy was indeed successful, it may be however that the success was due to the peculiar nature of the institution (i.e., the fact that they are participant in a judicial process and that the “red team” simply prepares them better for the questioning they might face from the real “enemy advocates”).
Any empirical research on these issues that you know of?
What about the possibility that the answer to “Is playing Devil’s Advocate a good strategy?” is context-dependent?
There could be a set of psychological answers (possibly different for different kind of personalities) to the question applied to individual behavior—as in “would it help a type X person (on average) to overcome its biases and/or to think more creatively?”
And there could be a set of sociological answers (possibly different for different types or organizations, like schools, firms, research centers, etc.) to the question applied to organizational behavior—as in “would it help (on average) to always/sometimes have a “red team” that tries to shoot down the main team’s theories?”
On the latter point, I have heard that the EU’s Directorate General for Competition policy was quite happy with the introduction of a “Devil’s Advocate” policy a few years ago. Assuming the policy was indeed successful, it may be however that the success was due to the peculiar nature of the institution (i.e., the fact that they are participant in a judicial process and that the “red team” simply prepares them better for the questioning they might face from the real “enemy advocates”).
Any empirical research on these issues that you know of?