“Look for people with renaissance-thinker tendencies, who've done work in a related area but not in your specific field. Make it possible for someone who doesn't report directly to that area to come in and say the emperor has no clothes.”

--Cynthia Barton Rabe, author of “ Innovation Killer: How What We Know Limits What We Can Imagine — and What Smart Companies Are Doing About It,” quoted in a NY Times article on how relying on expertise leads to lack of questioning and familiar results.

Susan sez: This is a role consultants often fill, but one managers should build into their own planning, IMHO.