The more expertise we gain in our field of work, the less flexible we become. Experts tend to struggle when the rules change more than a beginner who has more recently entered the field.
When there is no historical precedent of something working, an expert will reject it far sooner than an open-minded novice will.
Novel ideas get rejected because of the discomfort associated with a new thing. It could fail, so why would I give up something that seems to work just fine now?
There are plenty of reasons to give up the good and reach for the great, but that’s a conversation for another time.
Expertise gives us blinders when we don’t temper our expertise with humility. Our humility enables us to strip away our assumptions and adopt a beginner’s mindset once again.
When we approach problems that require creative solutions, the unbounded mind is the one that is more able to think outside of the problem and find the best solution. Only after our child-like approach to the problem, ought we to put on our expert’s cap and apply our wealth of knowledge and experience to put that creative solution into action.
“Make three correct guesses consecutively and you will establish a reputation as an expert.”