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by James Robertson.
Original Post: Solutions, or just negativity?
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Here's a great post on the dangers that can arise from the common "devil's advocate" approach:
Tom Kelley--general manager of IDEO--believes that "devil's advocate may be the biggest innovation killer in America today." We've all been in a meeting where a passionate idea is put forth but someone plays devil's advocate and drains the life out of the room. Invoking "the awesome protective power" lets the devil's advocate be incredibly negative and slash your idea to shreds, all while appearing not only innocent but reasoned, balanced, intelligent... all attributes loaded with business "goodness".
Read the whole thing - it's good. The important take-away is to remember that criticism isn't enough - you need to have an explanation of why something else (maybe the status quo) is better.