I think any dogmatic approach to investing is bad. Name any style of investing and I'm sure I can find someone who's made money at it. Contrarianism? Dividend growth investing? Total yield? REIT's? Options? Futures? FOREX?
Dogmatic approach to dividend investing(If it doesn't have a dividend, I'm not interested, If it cuts the dividend, I leave, If the dividend stagnates, I leave, Never sell even if according to any metric it's overpriced) could potentially be just as damaging as any other method, although I personally believe that if people are investing in dividends, then they are more likely more risk averse and are probably getting a better return on less risk. There was a story, which I'm unable to find again(on SeekingAlpha I think), about how Shell(RDS.B/RDS.A) hasn't been a dividend king/champion, but if you had
not sold out when they cut the dividend/stagnated the dividend, you would have been much better off.
Do I invest in dividend companies? Yes, INTC, F, WM, TGH, GE, CSCO. Do I invest in value? Oh yes: AIG, BAC. Do I invest in buyback companies(which IBM has been one of the best companies over the last several years because they are so good at actually reducing outstanding share count)? Yes: SIRI. REITS? NNN, and I had a position in OHI that I sold out of.
Have I invested in stories/speculative? Oh yes: TSLA, NOK, FSLR
I've made money using all of the above strategies. I've been underwater, either temporarily or realized losses, on all of the above strategies. That said, the majority of my money I feel most confident in placing in strong dividend paying companies, but I will analyze the underlying facts for every company. INTC, I believe will pay a much stronger capital gains return over the next couple of years then it's dividend, but the dividend sure is nice if that thesis is wrong for any length of time(and which it has been since I bought my position until recently).
http://seekingalpha.com/article/1334481-there-is-no-such-thing-as-a-dividend-strategy