Base120 · Inversion
Devil's Advocate Protocol
Assign explicit role to argue against group consensus or preferred option
When to use
"Use when group consensus forms too quickly or too smoothly. Assign an explicit role to argue against the consensus. The role legitimates dissent that social pressure would otherwise suppress."
Example
"A team unanimously agrees to adopt a new framework. The designated devil's advocate argues — the framework is popular because of marketing, not technical merit; it solves problems we do not have; and the migration cost is underestimated. The team revisits the decision and decides to pilot instead of fully adopting."
Common misuse
"The devil's advocate role becoming performative — arguing against for the sake of argument without genuine investment in the opposing case. Real dissent requires genuine engagement, not role-play."