Devil’s Advocate

Brainstorming all the reasons - why you will NOT succeed

This method consists of finding all the reasons why a project as a whole or an action you are considering may not be successful. It needs to be done gently, so as not to crush enthusiasm but to help people think through how viable their ideas really are and what is needed to achieve something.

What is
What is Devil’s Advocate?
about ?

What is this Method about ?

Devil’s Advocate is based on a variation of brainstorming that is fast, energizing, and effective. The initial question is: why will our project/task/… NOT work? The atmosphere is light and playful; serious obstacles are greeted with applause.

Audience

Is participant experience relevant for Devil’s Advocate ?

It's okay if participants haven't seen the inside of a classroom in years

[content_physical_trust]

[content_mental_trust]

Audience description for Devil’s Advocate

Any group of people that wants to do risk assessment in a project

Requirements

How Stationary

Stationary necessary, at least in parts

Run Through

Pre Exercise

Steps

Brainstorming

Brainstorming: A fast, energizing, and effective way to work is to use a variation of brainstorming. The basic question for participants is: Why will this (action, project, idea) not work? The usual brainstorming rules apply:

Everything is permitted
No discussion or argument (only questions for clarification)
All suggestions written on a flipchart, whiteboard or other place visible to all participants.

In this case it is helpful to encourage the participants to find really challenging answers, potential problems, as well as the usual emphasis on creativity and ‘crazy’ ideas. The atmosphere should be light and ‘fun’, not heavy or depressive. ‘Big’ problems are greeted with enthusiasm and applause.

First feedback

After the exercise, ask how participants feel. Overall responses range from “It really doesn’t seem possible” to “Nothing worse than this? We can handle it!” In general there is often a sense of relief at having shared fears and concerns.If the general feeling is that the action or project is really not feasible, you can:

Choose to explore alternative ways of achieving the same results; in other words, you can re-frame your idea.
Alternatively, you can thank each other for your willingness to work together, and say goodbye.

Focus

It may be obvious from the first feedback that one or a few challenges are key to the success of the action/project. If it is not obvious, you can use the prioritization method to identify the most important. An appropriate question for the exercise is: “What item/which items would you personally like to work on today?” Using the results you can continue with:

A group strategizing session: how might we avoid or mitigate the problem(s)? What would we need to do this? Who might join us/contribute? … and so on. This process may begin during the review meeting, if you have time.
A risk assessment.

Online

Material for

MaterialMaterial : Flip Chart / White Board, Marker Pens

project

IN WHICH THIS method WAS DEVELOPED

Hosting Empowerment