Hey Andy,
As always you make a great point. Assuming that others may not have the same level of competence as you can be a major road block – in some cases, a career stopper. We all need to get assumption removers to erase the stories we have written in our minds that we repeat over and over (you know the voice in your head, it’s you).
John Maeda mentions in his new book how a night shift custodian’s comments opened a new world for him. The custodian gave him a chance to see his work in a new way that he may have ignored based on what he called a “limited view.”
You post provides great advice… we need to be on the lookout and broaden our view to find peers who share our commitment to excellence – even if that peer is part of the cleaning crew.