If you ask me, no decision-making group should ever report a unanimous decision. That simply means, no group charged with a decision should ever have 100% compliance. There should always be one dissenting vote.

That dissenting vote is what I refer to as the “10th Vote,” but you might know it by a more familiar term: The Devil’s Advocate.

As the Devil’s Advocate, the 10th Voter’s duty is to present a counter argument to whatever sentiment is the majority. If the consensus is “Yes,” then the 10th Vote must be “No” and to present questions that require clarification, not affirmation. It is this act of opposition that slows the decision process to ensure that the final decision is the best possible conclusion and one that has been fully vetted.

But it isn’t as easy as just saying “No” when others say “Yes.”

The Devil’s Advocate

I think that just about everyone in Western culture is familiar with the concept of the “Devil’s Advocate.” It seems as if everyone has been in a contentious discussion where someone “plays the Devil’s Advocate.” You read the term in books and see it on television. There has even been a Keanu Reeves movie of the same name. But not many people know the actual meaning of the term.

While I will cut a long story short, it is impossible to avoid the religions connotations since the origin lies in the Roman Catholic Church’s process of canonization of nominated saints. The Advocate’s role was essentially to argue the case against the nominee’s possible sainthood. The purpose being to intentionally slow the process in order to assure the candidate was truly worthy.

Hundreds of years after its institutionalization, there is still a need for a Devil’s Advocate to slow the decision process. Especially in a world where “moving fast and breaking things” is seen as essential to success.

The Leader and the 10th Vote

So how does the 10th Vote play into modern daily business? Obviously, there is the need to slow the decision process. But more than that, and possibly more important than that, is the fact that dedicated friction prevents “groupthink.” The danger of which being the fact that groupthink effectively short circuits the voting process. It suppresses the benefits of creativity contributions and promotes a lack of responsibility. Basically, it is everything negative about stereotypical group efforts.

But the role of 10th Vote isn’t easy. It takes a person comparable and possibly more capable than someone who fills the role of a leader. Where the leader’s goal is to gather the consensus of the group, the 10th Vote stands in opposition. While the leader’s role is seen as positive because it promotes progress, the 10th Vote intentionally works to slow progress. In the end, good leaders have a select skill set, but the 10th Vote takes an equally rare skill set.

The Experiment

So, there we are. That’s my current stance of the importance and role of the Devil’s Advocate, or what I call the 10th Vote. Now I want to see how that changes.

I am about to begin reading Red Team, by Micah Zenko. This is a book about the practice of instilling “Red Teams” by both major corporations and governments. These teams are comprised of dedicated skeptics seeking out vulnerabilities, shortcomings, and other soft spots that weaken the decision process. While the majority works to promote progress by building processes and products, Red Teams work to promote progress by fortifying the foundation of what is built.

Now I want to see how my thoughts on the 10th Vote change as I read the book. Right now, I wish more companies had the fortitude instill 10th Voters on every decision making team and allow Red Teams to exercise their skills. Sadly, that isn’t the case.

Now we’ll see how things turn out in a couple of weeks …