When someone always plays devil’s advocate, they are not playing anything – they are a detractor, a nay-sayer, a progress-stopper. To be clear, healthy debate and discussion about a topic is healthy. Very healthy. But two things: There is a time and place for healthy debate, and once a decision is made, we move on collectively – even those with dissenting opinions. And, if someone is regularly “playing” the role of devil’s advocate, they aren’t playing.

Learning: If someone is always playing “Devil’s Advocate,” share this with them and see what they come back with on the following topic. That will tell you if it was a behavior they were unaware of or if they can’t help but be the critic. If the latter, then ask them to lead the next topic.

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Have you ever seen this behavior before? If so, we’d love to hear from you.