The reflex
You learn from the people close to you. Their examples are available, their context is familiar, and you can ask them questions.
The builder’s reflex
“What other example could help me examine this choice?”
Why
Your colleagues teach you the ground. But they share your blind spots. An outside reference opens a possibility nobody around you has seen: a way of laying out a quote, a clearer flow, an interview framework, an organisation suited to a comparable problem.
Look for it in another department, another sector, a professional community, published work, another city. Fame and the size of the organisation say nothing about how useful the example is. What counts is the decision it shows and what that decision makes possible.
Compare the constraints before you copy. A team with ten times your means can fund what you cannot. A service built for a stable connection can fail where you are. Keep the way of reasoning, and adapt the solution to your constraints.
Try this
Pick a subject to go deeper on, and an outside example that handles a close problem. Put it next to your work. Note one different decision, one different constraint, and one thing you want to keep.
Try an adaptation on a small case. If it adds cost with no benefit, go back and keep the reason.
To discuss
Which outside comparison helped us improve, or confirm, our own way of doing things?