Been There, Done That.

Expertise is based on pattern recognition.  It develops over time by having seen it all before.   But experts are susceptible to implicit assumptions, unintentionally preventing deeper or original thought. 

Reviewing projects or checking designs is so important.  Reviewers shouldn’t have the exact or even similar experience or background as the originator – they may have the same ‘connections’ (implicit assumptions) and won’t see an error.

It’s difficult to overcome implicit assumptions – mostly because we don’t know we’re making them.  This is especially true if we’ve become very good at something: we forget to think differently or think beyond what we know.