RTV#41 The Devil's Advocate

A Year of Raising the Village. Week #41 – The Devil's Advocate

For nearly 4 centuries, when an individual became a candidate for sainthood in the Roman Catholic Church, decision makers relied on the Advocatus Diaboli, or devil's advocate, to investigate all the negative aspects of the candidate's life and their work. The idea was that with a thorough investigation that uncovered all the unfavorable information for the Church leadership, the decision making process would be better informed.


A lone dissenter in an otherwise unanimous group may be enough to generate more creative and complex thinking within the entire group. The question is - are devil's advocates (essentially pretend dissenters) just as effective? Authors of the book Yes! - Goldstein, Martin and Cialdini, share that there is conflicting evidence about how helpful the devil's advocate approach is.

On one hand, studies showed that a real dissenter is more persuasive as the group sees the arguments as more valid than the devil's advocate.   With a real dissenter, the group searches to understand what makes the dissenter believe what they believe in order to broaden their perspective.

At the same time, other findings support that experience with devil's advocates also strengthen confidence in decisions because the group believes that they have considered, and subsequently dismissed, all possible alternatives. In addition, practicing with a devil's advocate may help a group's climate to become more open where opposing views are accepted so that the safety for true dissenters is higher and they speak up.

Village Raising Question

What do you think? What has your experience been with using devil's advocates in a group decision making process?


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Rethinking Group Values

www.wordle.net

Facilitators and community developers who work with groups often begin with the task of defining the group’s values. In the room there will be the eye rollers who mutter “good glory, can we just get on with it?” and the reflective eager beavers who are already waving their hands like primary school students wanting to be the first to say “respect, inclusive or honesty.”

Values are attitudes that motivate us to act a certain way. They are based on our ethical standards and are a measure of what is important to us. Values are going to be different for everyone. In a group, the process of defining group values begins to shape the common ground shared among individuals or organizations. This is important when people intend to work together on a project or share resources.

So how do you find the middle ground between the eye rollers and the eager beavers? Here is what NOT to do:

• Bypass the process completely to avoid ruffling feathers
• Skim the surface of the process and quickly gather the “off-the cuff” list of tried and true values that are, out of context, rather meaningless and not a reflection of the whole group
• Get all “existential” on everyone and immerse the group with lectures on ethical hierarchies, morality and anthropological lenses (yikes!)

To get to values that are useful during the course of the group’s work together and not just collect dust on an old flip chart paper or get buried in meeting minutes, try an adaptation of this 30-minute process.

• Let the group know that the next 30 minutes will set the stage for the working relationship of the group.
• Give groups a list of values (make sure there is space for “other”)
• Have people work ALONE, get them to mark the top 3 values that they feel are the most pertinent with the group and the project. To help people get into the value mind-set, ask a few questions such as: What does this group/project stand for? What do you see at the core of this group/project?
• Then work in small groups, have individuals share their 3 values and why they fit. Make note of ones that are the SAME and ones that the group really identifies with.
• Have the small group come to a consensus on the top 3 shared values from this collective list. Use your agreed upon consensus process. (See last weeks blog for more on consensus).
• Have each small group share their list with the whole group. After each presentation, allow time for people to pose questions about how each value relates to the group/project at hand.

For example:

Courage

What does this mean for safety? What are the fears about this project/group that would need courage to overcome them? What is at the essence of courage for you? What does it mean?

• Have individuals work ALONE again and cast a vote for their personal top 3 values.
• Have someone enter all the values into www.wordle.net to see both the collection of values that the group has identified surround the project and the values of highest importance (the top ones will be bigger – but the others won’t be lost).
• Post this, refer to it, and question it often. It can help during the group’s cycle of learning, planning and decision making.

Sometimes the most relevant group values are ones that not everyone understands how they fit at first glance. Through learning about and applying them, meaning emerges as people balance what resonates personally and what “fits” with the group or project.

Village Raising Question:

When was the last time you evaluated your own values?

Group Consensus – Just what I wanted!

“I’m so happy we reached group consensus – our decision is exactly what I wanted.” Stop the Raising the Village bus! Is this truly a statement that reflects a consensus result? Perhaps, but first consider what consensus means to you and the group or community you work with.

Consensus is a process that empowers an understanding between people where there are no individual winners or losers. It is a decision making route where each person may feel fully, partially or maybe not at all reflected in the final decision, however they can see how the decision benefits the “whole” or the larger system (in this case the village).

How do groups reach consensus?

We recommend starting with hearing all participant voices in different ways. This may range from individual reflection time to small and large group discussion. Reaching consensus is not about pushing through votes, being “right”, or campaigning for your personal choice. It can be viewed as an opportunity for you to share your ideas and thoughts…with the chance to then sit back and open yourself up to hear other ideas.

Katrina Shields, a social action leader, describes how to reach consensus in her book In the Tiger’s Mouth. “Consensus requires a group that is willing to work together and trust there is a solution, as well as patience and perseverance. It requires us to come to meetings with our minds not fixed on a particular solution or position; in the light of hearing all the possible positions we may modify ours.”

Shields goes on to describe a step-by-step consensus process: (adapted)

a) The facilitator states the issue clearly and in an unbiased way
b) Discussion is invited, proposals are put forward, no individual dominates
c) A pause for reflective silence is included
d) People are welcomed to share - who agrees and disagrees with proposals (not people)
e) The facilitator states and restates the position of the meeting as it emerges until agreement is reached
f) If agreement is not reached, ask if anyone is willing to “step aside” – they do not agree but accept the decision proceeding. If not, the issue gets tabled to allow more time for individual and group reflection.

In our experiences with groups, we aim to reach consensus by saying… “Let’s talk about it until we can all sleep at night.”

Group consensus can be a tricky process. We recommend these other resources too. The Facilitators Guide to Participatory Decision Making by Sam Kaner or the Quaker model at http://www.earlham.edu/~consense/mats.htm

If you find yourself in group decision-making mode, find a consensus process that works to get a decision made and leaves people feeling satisfied and heard.

Village Raising Question:
In what ways does a consensus making process support shared leadership?

Upcoming in RTV blog: Watch for more on consensus including how to use it to unearth group values.