Naivety vs. Experience

We all like to hear stories about how an outsider was successful with an innovative idea and they claim "I was too naive to know my idea couldn't work - ha ha". These stories are common mainly because we like them, but also because they really do happen. Experienced people learn the accepted way of doing things and are hesitant to innovate, in particular they are hesitant to take on wild ideas that will probably fail. So there is value bringing outsiders into projects who can see possibilities experienced people dismiss--and which outsiders can pursue them without ruining an established reputation.

However, let's not be too quick to lionize the outsider. What I see more often than great out-of-the-box ideas is outsiders inventing a mundane approach that experienced people know won't have impact. An outsider is more likely to re-invent an old mediocre idea than a fresh excellent one.

The trick is drawing on the strengths of both insiders and outsiders. For example, getting the experienced people to kill ideas if they are mediocre already-in-the-box ideas and not toss out wild, improbably out-of-the-box ideas that might actually work.