We wanted to compare authentic dissent to the
devil's advocate in their impact not just on thinking, but on the solutions they generated.
For
Devil's Advocate and End of Days, a hero acts alone with his physical body to bring about redemption to the situation, for the time being.
The
devil's advocate might respond that enhanced intelligence at the top could have a "trickle-down" effect, bringing technological and cultural blessings to the society as a whole.
As for his readers' reaction to the resurrection of the destroyed
Devil's Advocate, Slonoff reported: "We lost a few subscribers, were taken to task on our editorial page by a few letter writers, but it was a decision I never regretted.
In light of these findings, researchers might consider the utility of adding a new character to Galbraith's (1984) existing cast of innovation roles: The role of the "
devil's advocate" might offer a standpoint for those who voice objections to innovation adoption or implementation for very legitimate reasons.
Morris West, the Australian novelist who died in October, made his reputation first with The
Devil's Advocate in 1959, a novel about a priest dying of cancer who is sent to a village in Calabria to help bolster the case against the canonization of a British officer shot by the Communists during World War II.
During classes, no matter what position we took on an issue, he would play
devil's advocate, taking the other side to impress upon us the importance of critical thinking.
We sometimes play
devil's advocate, asking, `Is this the best way to do it?'
As tax professionals, have you ever played "
devil's advocate" in order to test your beliefs?
Likewise, the role playing of
devil's advocate challenged the correctness and soundness of the leader's advocated (directive leader) or suggested (participative leader) solution or any other member's suggested solution shortly after it was presented to the group, emphasized the importance of the decision making process for selecting the highest quality or best solution, invited others to present different alternatives in response to any solution offered by any group member, and encouraged the substantiation or rationale for any given solution by any given group member.
Make sure you aren't regularly playing the
devil's advocate or sleuth.
Less well known, perhaps, are his invention of the aqualung, his World War II Resistance work, and his irascible nature, which has led to occasional breaks with his family (he recently filed legal papers against his son Jean-Michel in a dispute over a resort in Fiji), and to
devil's advocate positions in interviews like this one.
In contrast, the right hemisphere acts as a
devil's advocate that, when necessary, bursts through defenses and organizes a revision of the internal status quo.