Why the Ideas That Change Everything Come From the Voices You Ignore

Key Takeaways

Expertise narrows perception; innovation expands when you invite unfamiliar voices into the conversation.

Breakthroughs happen when outsiders spot anomalies that insiders have trained themselves to overlook.

Entrepreneurs are obsessed with expertise. We hire it, chase it and put it on pedestals. We fill our meetings with specialists, craft job descriptions that read like encyclopedia entries and tell ourselves that the more knowledge we surround ourselves with, the faster we’ll find breakthrough ideas.

But expertise has a paradox built into it. The deeper you go into a specialty, the narrower your field of vision becomes. You learn the rules, then become encased in them. You absorb the norms and eventually stop questioning them. You become fluent in the language of your