Devil’s advocacy within organisations

Ellerman, David P. (author)

A conceptual study that calls for ‘devil’s advocacy’ to be integrated into organisations is presented. The intellectual history of this concept dates back to Socratic thought and the Athenian tradition of intellectual contestation, contrasting it with societies that prioritised harmony over debate. It is argued in the article that institutionalised opposition, like legal adversarial systems or loyal oppositions in politics, can lead to better decision-making and prevent the abuse of power. In contrast to the authoritarian tendencies in the world today, an organisational culture that embraces critical thinking and diverse viewpoints is regarded as essential for progress, mirroring the principles of intellectual liberty shown in historical movements like the Reformation and Enlightenment. The appendix contains a shortened 1998 unpublished internal World Bank document explicitly labelled as an exercise in devil’s advocacy.

• Language: English
• Keywords: devil’s advocacy, contestation, loyal opposition, critical thinking, groupthink, organizacijska klima
• Work type: Article
• Typology: 1.01 - Original Scientific Article
• Organization: FDV - Faculty of Social Sciences
• Publication status: Published
• Publication version: Version of Record
• Publication date: 28.10.2025
• Year: 2025
• Number of pages: str. 641-655
• Numbering: Letn. 62, št. 3
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-175808
• UDC: 005.7:159.9.019.4
• ISSN on article: 0040-3598
• DOI: 10.51936/tip.62.3.641
• COBISS.SI-ID: 255467779
• Publication date in RUL: 08.11.2025

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: Teorija in praksa : revija za družbena vprašanja
• Shortened title: Teor. praksa
• Publisher: Fakulteta za družbene vede
• ISSN: 0040-3598
• COBISS.SI-ID: 763652

Licences

• License: CC BY 4.0, Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
• Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
• Description: This is the standard Creative Commons license that gives others maximum freedom to do what they want with the work as long as they credit the author.

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian
• Title: »Hudičevo zagovorništvo« znotraj organizacij

Abstract

To je konceptualna študija, ki zagovarja integracijo »hudičevega zagovorništva« znotraj organizacij. Intelektualna zgodovina tega koncepta sega nazaj v Sokratovo misel in atensko tradicijo intelektualnega izpodbijanja, ki jo primerja z družbami, ki dajejo prednost harmoniji pred razpravo. Članek trdi, da lahko institucionalizirana opozicija, kot so pravni kontradiktorni sistemi ali politično lojalne opozicije, privede do boljšega odločanja in prepreči zlorabo moči. V nasprotju z avtoritarnimi težnjami v današnjem svetu besedilo zagovarja organizacijsko kulturo, ki sprejema kritično razmišljanje in različna stališča kot bistvena za napredek, kar odraža načela intelektualne svobode, ki jih vidimo v zgodovinskih gibanjih, kot sta reformacija in razsvetljenstvo. Dodatek prinaša skrajšani neobjavljeni interni dokument Svetovne banke iz leta 1998, ki je izrecno označen kot vaja »hudičevega zagovorništva«.

• Keywords: hudičevo zagovorništvo, izpodbijanje, institucionalizirana opozicija, kritično razmišljanje, skupinsko razmišljanje, organizational climate