We’ve all heard the story: the new hire - the “rookie” - sits through training, notices something clunky, and asks, “Why do we do it that way?” The trainer pauses, shrugs, and says, “That’s just how we’ve always done it.” And suddenly, something broken gets fixed. Or maybe the rookie brings in a process from their last company that transforms a workflow. Or they ask how a system works, only to find no one really knows - prompting the team to hunt down the answer and finally document it.
These rookie moments aren’t just feel-good anecdotes - they’re often the catalyst for real, lasting improvements. And they all have one thing in common: they happen because someone was new enough to see clearly and curious enough to ask. Rookies, the ones making these observations and changes to the business, are a gift. They’re curious by default. They’re not yet affected by the curse of knowledge. They ask all the questions - not only “how do I do this”, but “why do we do this”. They expose silos and institutional knowledge. They expose where your training lacks, where your leaders lack in leading, where your organization lacks in onboarding. They disrupt. They have work and life experience that made them qualified to be hired - all of that experience is fresh in their mind and ripe for the picking.
They have another thing in common, too - these stories always happen to the rookie, but rookies aren’t rookies forever, and as rookies become tenured, these transformative experiences occur less and less until they stop. That’s a huge missed opportunity that we’ve come to accept. So how can we capitalize on all the benefits that rookies bring into our workplace? We could hire more people, sure, but especially in today’s environment, that just isn’t that realistic, and it leaves a lot on the table.
The solution is to build Rookie Culture into your organization. Rookie Culture means treating curiosity, hunger, and fresh thinking as core job responsibilities.
- Get Everyone Asking Questions
- Encourage everyone - rookies and veterans alike - to ask more questions, especially the ‘dumb’ ones. New employees ask significantly more questions of their leaders, peers, and mentors every day in comparison to veteran employees. This single thing - asking tons of questions - is the key to unlocking rookie’s transformative moments. Create a culture where asking questions is expected behavior. At the same time, you must create a culture with strong psychological safety to ensure questions are met with productive conversation. Managers, executives, and leaders should also lead by example with a question-first culture (which can further develop a culture of trust).
- Make it Everyone’s Job to Dive In & Get it Fixed
- Where veterans find workarounds, rookies fix problems at the root - because they have to. A veteran has a tendency to come across a challenge in getting something done and know a) how to work around it and b) whose job it is to fix it. Therefore, they work around it and leave it to the responsible party to fix it - hopefully, it does. Rookies come across a problem and have no idea whose job it is to fix it, but they’re new and they can’t work around problems like tenured employees can. So they have to dive in, find the right people and processes, and get it fixed. Create a culture where it is everyone’s responsibility to dive in and get it fixed. If someone can’t get something done, it is their job to bring it to resolution, whatever that looks like. Bonus points if you can empower employees to fix it themselves - updating documentation or posting information on an internal blog is a great opportunity for this.
- Force Outside Perspectives
- As employees become more tenured, they grow further away from previous work experiences and more indoctrinated by your culture. When challenged, they become more likely to lean into experiences they have had at your organization instead of those outside, which encourages insular thinking. Create a culture that emphasizes outside perspectives. Encourage (and make space for) outside learning - classes, conferences, podcasts, or even team book clubs - to keep thinking fresh and avoid echo chambers.
- Institute a Day In The Life Program
- You can imitate rookies by running a “Day In The Life” program. A Day In The Life program allows employees to spend time in another team or department for a period of time, doing the work of that team, with a shadow. It gives an opportunity for a perspective shift similar to being a Rookie at a new company. Ask employees doing DITL to walk out of that experience making the team they shadowed better in some way. Reflect on how that happened and exercise that muscle. Besides helping institute Rookie Culture, a Day in the Life program has many other benefits - career progression opportunities, breaking down work silos, exposure to customers, and more - it’s worth it.
The most powerful thing about rookies isn’t what they know - it’s what they don’t know yet, what they’re willing to challenge, and what they can expose in solving. What would change if your most tenured employees thought like that, too? What if every team stayed just curious enough to question, hungry enough to fix, and willing enough to learn? That’s the real opportunity - and it’s one you can create.