What do you call it when you do something intentionally "different" just so you have an intended outcome?

Solution 1:

You're playing the devil's advocate.

Various definitions can be found:

devil's advocate [uncountable noun] [often with determiner]

If you play devil's advocate in a discussion or debate, you express an opinion which you may not agree with but which is very different from what other people have been saying, in order to make the argument more interesting.

[Collins]

devil's advocate noun [ C usually singular ]

someone who pretends, in an argument or discussion, to be against an idea or plan that a lot of people support, in order to make people discuss and consider it in more detail:

• I don't really believe all that - I was just playing devil's advocate.

[Cambridge Dictionary]

devil's advocate ...

(4) someone who pretends to be against an idea or plan that many agree with, so that people may discuss it and consider other views

[TheIdioms]