Do we encourage dissention in our organizations?

There has been some recent news about Microsoft's MSN Spaces decision to take down a site belonging to a Chinese blogger and willingness to censor Chinese language blogs, presumably to stay in favor with the Chinese government and that potentially lucrative market. While a very interesting story, this post is not really about that issue.

Rather, this post is about someone who works for Microsoft by the name of Robert Scoble. His official title is technical evangelist. He has a blog, which can be found here. He recently had a post in which he very vocally criticized his own company for their actions in this matter. He has since posted a couple of updates here and here. Please follow the links if you have an interest in this story.

My interest in this story lies here: How good are we at encouraging dissenting viewpoints within our organizations? Would we do as Microsoft has done and hire someone to blog about issues related to our company, and even go so far as allowing them to very publically criticize us if they so desire?

Robert Greenleaf was very well known for making sure that there were always opposing viewpoints represented at the various meetings he led. Yet I think it is far more common in today's organizations for people to surround themselves only with those who will agree with them. However, encouraging dissent will only make our organizations and decisions stronger in the long run. Microsoft seems to understand that. I hope more organizations follow suit.