1. People fall into mental ruts. We all do it. Someone who has performed an identical job in a different company is not going to question or reconsider processes, decisions, methods or strategies as easily as an outsider will. The best question an employee can ask is “Why do we do things this way?” because the question invites a conversation that desperately needs to happen. Will you get that level of inquiry from someone whose professional self-esteem and ego reside in the notion that they already know how things are “supposed to work?”
2. When we are forced by circumstance to learn a new industry, we apply what we’ve learned in other industries — and the results can be earth-shaking. Industry newbies aren’t constrained by Best Practices handed down to them like gospel. They get to look at your problems from a new angle, and see new opportunities and solutions.