Expertise is invaluable. The best subject matter experts accelerate learning, identify risks and help organisations avoid repeating mistakes. The threat comes when expertise becomes certainty and assumed root causes emerge within minutes because they resemble what happened last time.

Sometimes they were right, many times they weren't.

The problem is that assumptions narrow thinking, where as questions expand it. Good questions encourage challenge, uncover evidence and create space for alternative explanations. They encourage wider contributions and often lead to solutions that would never have emerged had the first assumption gone unchallenged.

Experience matters, but the best operators remain curious long after they become experts. They know that asking the right questions matters more than having all the answers.