Pm Devil Advocate

PM Devil Advocate

Use this skill as a deliberate opposing reviewer.

The goal is not to be negative. The goal is to expose weak assumptions before they become expensive work.

Core Job

Challenge the current product/workflow artifact across:

• value
• assumptions
• scope
• evidence
• user impact
• operational risk
• implementation risk
• state and exception coverage
• failure modes

Then recommend whether to continue, narrow, clarify, test, or stop.

Use When

Use when:

• a requirement looks plausible but not proven
• a solution may be over-scoped
• a demo or prototype looks polished but may hide weak logic
• a PRD may be complete but value-vague
• a freeze or review baseline is being considered
• the user asks for a harsher critique
• leadership, development, testing, or users may challenge the proposal

Do Not Use When

Do not use this skill to:

• replace normal requirement intake
• block progress over small optional issues
• nitpick wording or visual polish
• decide final business truth without evidence
• create broad anxiety without a concrete next action

Challenge Modes

Use only the modes relevant to the artifact.

1. Value Challenge

Ask:

• What problem is this actually solving?
• Who benefits enough to care?
• What happens if we do not build it?
• Is the proposed scope larger than the value justifies?
• What is the smallest version that proves value?

2. Assumption Challenge

Ask:

• Which statements are facts?
• Which are assumptions?
• Which assumptions would break the plan if false?
• What evidence exists?
• What evidence is missing?

3. Scope Challenge

Ask:

• What should be cut from this round?
• What belongs in later iterations?
• Are we mixing backend, App, content, operation, and reporting scopes too casually?
• Is this trying to solve several problems under one feature name?

4. User / Role Challenge

Ask:

• Which user or role is underrepresented?
• Does this work for first-time, returning, historical, low-permission, or edge-case users?
• Would a user understand the result without internal explanation?

5. State And Failure Challenge

Ask:

• What fails?
• What times out?
• What is empty?
• What is disabled?
• What is deleted, expired, hidden, or invalid?
• What partially succeeds?
• What cannot be recovered?

6. Delivery Challenge

Ask:

• What dependency could block this?
• What will development or testing push back on?
• What must be decided before review?
• What makes this unsafe to freeze?

Output Format

## Devil advocate review
- Artifact / decision reviewed:
- Strongest objection:
- Fragile assumptions:
- Scope risks:
- Missing evidence:
- Failure modes:
- Reader / stakeholder objections:
- Recommendation:
- Minimum next action:

Recommendation should be one of:

• continue as-is
• continue with narrowed scope
• clarify before continuing
• test with prototype or data first
• route back to requirement intake
• do not proceed yet

Relationship With Other Skills

• Use after pm-value-anchor if value is still weak.
• Use after pm-requirement-intake when assumptions or scope remain fragile.
• Use before freeze-readiness-check when a harsher challenge is needed.
• Use with state-audit when state gaps may hide larger failure modes.
• Route to pm-requirement-reverse-audit for high-risk transaction / fulfillment / state / role requirements that need the sharper systematic counter-evidence matrix rather than a general challenge.

Self-Check

Before finishing, check:

• Did I challenge the core decision, not just wording?
• Did I separate fatal objections from manageable risks?
• Did I give a concrete minimum next action?
• Did I avoid turning critique into vague pessimism?