by Colleen McCarty, VP Talent & Organization

Typically the team naysayer earns little respect but are we overlooking the benefits these party poopers bring? Playing devil’s advocate myself, I'm going to say yes, with a caveat.

Negativity can be an undervalued quality. Harvard Business Review's August 15th Management Tip of the Day reminds us that, "Groupthink is a dangerous byproduct of teamwork." The very first tip of this short article is: "Ask someone to play the role of devil's advocate to be sure ideas get challenged." If a team member is willing to push back on ideas, especially the team lead's idea, then you know your contrarian values the truth. The conversation to defend the idea will help you explore it more thoroughly from more angles.

The caveat? Style counts. No one likes a team member who habitually shoots down every idea out of laziness, malice, or envy. The goal should be to engage the team in an exploration process to "to test the quality of the original argument and identify weaknesses in its structure, and to use such information to either improve or abandon the original, opposing position." (Wikipedia)

So if you are lucky enough to already have a team member who is insightful yet contrary, ask yourself if you are fully utilizing their strengths. Can you coach your naysayer to employ their questioning nature for the good of the team? Do you need to encourage the team to respect opposing views? If the team works together to explore all angles the best solution should emerge.