The 90‑Day Expiry Date

Fresh perspective isn’t a skill. It’s just the absence of accumulated blindness.

And in tech, it usually expires in about 90 days.

When a new engineer joins the team, they ask the “annoying” questions:

• “Why does this service own that data?”
• “Why are we still using this legacy tool?”
• “Is there a reason this process takes six steps?”

The standard answer is usually some version of, “That’s just how it’s done here.”

The result? Three months later they stop asking. You haven't onboarded them; you've just taught them which questions are socially expensive.

We usually view onboarding as teaching someone how we work. But we’re missing the bigger opportunity: learning how we should work.

If your newcomers stop questioning the status quo, it’s not because they’ve learned the ropes. It’s because the culture prioritized conformity over clarity.

The goal isn't just to answer the “why.” It's to build a system where those questions are treated as a high‑value audit rather than a distraction.

Turn curiosity into a contribution. Before the blindness sets in.