I had heard this true story somewhere though I do not recollect the exact source.

A Professor once told his student “Never work for a firm where there are no graduates (right out of college) or people with no experience.”

What do you think of this line?

When you just read the above sentence, it might not sound insightful to you. Trust me, it is super powerful. Let me explain.

The Professor went on to add “It is because people get stuck in certain ways of doing things. Some faulty assumptions are baked into the mindsets of people. These assumptions made in the 1970’s,1980’s or 1990’s might have been true then, but they are not so now. People who live with these faulty assumptions do not see their assumptions changing. They keep doing what is worked. They don’t have people who might one day ask a seemingly stupid (very powerful one according to me) question.”

The question is “Why are we doing it this way?” Another variation “Is there a far better way (not incrementally better but exponentially better)?”

Do you see the powerful insight now? Do you see any similarities with our industry?

I cannot tell you how true this is for our space too. I would add one more thing beyond having fresh talent. We need to have people who come from different industries beyond the traditional financial services space. Most people come in this industry from life insurance, stock broking, banking, or accounting firms. Thus, we continue to operate on some assumptions about the future.

Think about it.

What are the assumptions you were making previously? What are the assumptions you are making NOW?

P.S I came from outside the industry and thus asked this stupid question “Why are we doing it this way?” I ask the same question to all of you. I encourage you to ask yourself the same question.