Before the 1973 Arab-Israeli War (Yom Kippur War), Israeli administrators had agreed that there would be no attack at that time. Perhaps the most important decision for a state is to anticipate possible attacks or to anticipate dangers.
As a matter of fact, nothing happened as Israel thought and Arab states attacked Israel under the leadership of Egypt and Syria. This attack, carried out on Yom Kippur day, also known as the fasting day in Israel, was the exact opposite of a decision taken jointly by the rulers. The tenth man rule, which was not applied that day, is known as a strictly enforced method in Israel today. Let’s examine the “tenth man” rule together.
Although not the exact equivalent of “the tenth man”, “mind is superior to mind”
- Brainstorm
The tenth man rule is very simple to implement and the results can be incredibly rewarding. To describe it briefly; 10 people gather around a round table (maybe more than 10) and the discussion process of the decision to be taken begins. If ten people agree on a decision, a random person at the table offers the opposite opinion. Until the discussion is completed, this person talks about the negative aspects of the majority’s opinion and ensures that the necessary measures are taken.
Features of the tenth man rule
We stated that the table consists of ten people in the tenth man rule. It is very important that this table is round, because it means that everyone at the table is equal in status. This is more difficult to talk about at rectangular or square tables than at a round table. Indeed, everyone at the table is considered completely equal in status so that the person who opposes the common idea at the table is respected.
Another feature of the table is that no tenth man was chosen before the discussion started. According to the progress of the situation, a volunteer is put forward to take this role.
“We can also call the tenth man the devil’s advocate”
In fact, when we examine it in terms of theory and practice, there is no difference between the method called “devil’s advocate” and the rule of the tenth man. there is none. In the role of devil’s advocate, the person; thinks and explains the worst thing that can happen after an action before the action takes place.
Benefits of the tenth man rule
There is a decision to be made in the middle of the tenth man rule. Although this decision is the right one, it is important to see the negative aspects of every right, but we have difficulty seeing the negative aspects of the choices we accept as right. For this reason, a volunteer “consistently” rejects the decision accepted by the nine people at the table and explains to the table the consistent aspects of the opposing view he or she rejects.
As a result, although the first decision is implemented, measures are also taken against the possibilities on the opposite side of the current decision, thus ensuring the perfection of the decision taken. In some cases, there are even situations such as abandoning the decision taken.
How do we know the tenth man rule?
describes the tenth man rule in William Kaplan’s 2017 “Why Dissent Matters: Because Some People See Things the Rest of Us Miss” We know him from his book “Can See What Everyone Else Is Missing” and the movie World War Z (The Last World War), starring Brad Pitt. In addition, we can state that the tenth man rule was not implemented in the Yom Kippur War in 1973 and the importance of the tenth man rule increased after this war in Israel, which gave a weak test in terms of intelligence.
What do you guys think about the tenth man rule? Do you think the tenth man rule is really useful or just a waste of time? You can share your ideas and thoughts on this subject with us in the comments section.
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