Outside Eyes

At work this week I was a guest at a process improvement planning event. I was not familiar with the work area or the leaders so was unsure of the issues or the level of commitment to any identified changes. As a consultant, this isn’t new to me. In my regular job I also function as a consultant – an internal consultant or as I like to describe it – an outside insider to the areas I support or the projects I lead.

The value of outsider's eyes is threefold:

1. Having curious participants who are not invested in any process or outcome helps everyone open their perspectives on something they are too close to see clearly anymore.

2. Innocent (or not so innocent) questions from the outsider are met with less defensiveness and can spark some dynamic dialogue

3. Having an insider explain a process to an outsider using simple language can help to highlight waste and workarounds.

Being an outsider and learning about new areas is one of the things I love most about my job and about my consulting work through Tree Toad.