Devil's Advocate - Leveraging Its Goodness for Family Business

Many companies worldwide hire people for critical thinking such that they ask questions about thoughts, decisions, and processes. Most often, these people are labelled “villains” without realizing the underlying meaning, that their questions possess bountiful advantages. Having said that, NO ONE is ever ready to accept a counter question, rather, one always readily retaliates assuming “the question to be a hindrance” and not something that could be of any benefit.

One of the first steps towards success is acknowledging the “Devil’s Advocate”. I am sure you must have heard of the word, “Devil’s Advocate”, but what exactly does it mean? A devil’s advocate is a person who expresses a contentious opinion to provoke debate or tests the strength of the opposing arguments.

Now, you need to understand that every family has a devil who you perceive as a negative person or a villain. Their questions may seem like a sort of interference or even sometimes irritating but they could also add value if you think about it. It can provoke thinking in the most appropriate direction leading to a solution-oriented thought process.

Think about this: however, interfering or irritating, what’s better, a known and well-wishing devil or an unknown devil?

Furthermore, imagine working in tandem with your highest potential… … thrilling… right?

This is what the Devil’s Advocate can do. It can instil in you the power to foresee, perform, and succeed like you never knew you ever could. Understand, a devil is a blessing in disguise, allow him or her to play the role!

I re-emphasize: Do You Know the Devil In The Devil’s Advocate? If The Answer Is Yes, Then Allow Him to Play The Role Of The Devil’s Advocate.

A devil’s advocate could be your uncle, your father, your mother, your sibling or even your aunt, be it anyone, let them shoot the questions without restraint because they are “yours and your business’s real well-wishers”, they know you better than the critical thinker you can hire. Never dodged the questions coming from them, instead, take them as pointers indicating growth. This is what leveraging the goodness of the devil’s advocate in a family-run business means and can do.

Most often people are comfortable with those people who ask fewer questions without realizing their loss.

Fundamental 1: Always remember a person who wishes well for you must always be given the task of being the “devil’s advocate”.?

Fundamental 2: Each question must indicate or suggest an exploratory thought process. Wondered why exploratory thinking is good? The answer is simple! These are the kind of thoughts that will push you forward towards “thought clarity” and then ultimately to success and growth. Always remember the 5Ws and 1H! Just one of these 5Ws or 1H opens up you’re thinking and gives your thoughts a unique dimension, be it in the form of a boost in the business or the unveiling of a new characteristic of your personality that you never knew, existed. Think about it!

Fundamental 3: Critical thinking is a result of the Devil’s Advocate. How do you define critical thinking? It’s just another view, perspective, or a counterthought. Critical thinking is born out of the Devil’s Advocate. Be it a big project, a small project, giving someone some credit, changing the product composition, squeezing the credit, or changing the packaging that has been going on for years, critical thinking is a “weighed” way forward. This exercise leads to thoroughness and confidence in your decision-making. Having said that, it may have a con of not being able to make a timely decision but in the end, a slightly delayed “right” decision is enormously better than taking a “hasty” or “regretful” decision.

Fundamental 4: The Devil’s Advocate helps you to transform yourself from a critic to a coach. Now who would not want to take that journey? If just the thought is so empowering, imagine practising that every single day of your life. Like charcoal needs polishing for it to shine bright like a diamond, you and I need a devil’s advocate who becomes our coach and could be a torch bearer for our own company as well.

However, motivating this may sound, our problem is that we don’t pay much heed to this journey. This process could make us think through new ideas, help us to break our stereotypes, and challenge our thoughts, which could eventually transform into productive action.

Achieving any phenomenal feat does not come without stopping at someone criticizing, it rather starts at that. Not all criticism is bad, some may have a hidden warning which when understood is your leap towards exploration and growth. Don’t forget to read between the lines!

Lastly, I would say make the most of a Devil’s Advocate in your family to climb up the ladder of achievement rather than it being a cause of stagnation.

The choice is yours and solely yours!