Traditionally, before the Catholic church declared someone a saint, it appointed a “devil’s advocate.” That person’s role was to take a skeptical view, laying out every argument he could for why the prospective saint should be denied recognition. (Pope John Paul II abolished the office in 1983, after it had been in place for nearly 400 years.  Since then, 500 saints have been canonized, a yearly rate about 20 times faster than in the earlier part of the 20th century.) 

We believe a similar role is needed in business situations.  The devil’s advocate would “argue the no side,” to use the phrasing of one CEO that lost his job because he failed to have someone do just that. That doesn’t mean asking for an analysis by your investment banker, who will put up a nice façade but has no incentive to talk you out of a deal that will generate millions of dollars in fees for the bank. It may mean turning to an independent board member. It may mean assigning a trusted senior executive. It may mean hiring an outsider.

The devil’s advocate role, however, is not to argue no for no’s sake.  It is to argue the no side with the long-term best interest of the corporation in mind.  Indeed, the official title for the role within the Catholic church was “promotor fidel,” Latin for “promoter of the faith.”  Whoever is chosen needs to have the knowledge to render a credible opinion from this perspective, and must have the independence to be able to stand up to the CEO.