Ask The Person Who Hasn’t Done It

“Have you done this before?”

It sounds like a gate.

A velvet rope for experience. A tiny clipboard held by the bouncer of credibility. If yes, step inside. If no, please return to the sidewalk with the other amateurs and half baked philosophers.

But here’s the weird little pickle in the punch bowl.

Even people who haven’t done the thing often have something worth hearing.

Sometimes especially them.

The person who has never built the product may notice the part everyone else has learned to ignore. The person who has never run the event may ask the question so obvious it has become invisible. The person who has never written the campaign may wonder why the headline sounds like it was assembled in a basement by nervous accountants.

Experience is useful. Of course it is. Nobody wants a surgeon who says, “I’ve watched a lot of TikToks and I’m feeling spiritually available.”

But experience also creates grooves. Grooves become habits. Habits become laws. Laws become “that’s just how we do it here,” which is corporate Latin for “the raccoon on LSD is now driving the forklift.”

So ask the question differently.

Not just: Have you done this?

Ask: What do you see?

Ask: What feels confusing?

Ask: What would you try if you didn’t know the rules yet?

The person without the scar tissue may still have fresh eyes. And fresh eyes are underrated little lanterns. They don’t know where the bodies are buried, but they can often smell the dirt.

The best room is not full of experts.

The best room has experts, beginners, skeptics, operators, dreamers, and at least one person willing to say, “Wait, why?”

That question is a crowbar.

STay Positive & Use It