I have a love/hate relationship with subject matter experts. On the one hand they have tremendous experience in a given area and can show you how to avoid common mistakes and issues that are likely to come up. They’ve seen solutions around just about every problem type and bring valuable knowledge. But on the other hand they also bring a very set way of thinking. They are reluctant to change and not always open to doing things differently – especially if it is a radical difference.
It’s good to bring that perspective, but letting the dictate the process and outcome alternatives can be a dangerous mistake. The biases that the subject matter expert has developed over the years is going to color their perspective.
I was reading through HBR last week and came across their article in the same vein on Managerial Intuition. They make the case better than I can about the value of experts. But needless to say (or I wouldn’t be linking to it) they agree with me.