Imagine for a moment that software development iterations or sprints are like using a team of people rowing a boat, each with an individual paddle. If everyone on the team pulls their paddle through the water in the same direction and in the same cadence and the team has someone steering, then the boat will move swiftly in the intended direction. If, on the other hand, the team is not pulling in the same direction, then boat will slow down dramatically, or if the team members are not in sync as to the paddling cadence, then the boat will not move forward as quickly as it otherwise would and finally if the boat has no one steering then the boat may move quickly but will veer of coarse and lose speed to costly coarse correction efforts.
In an iteration or sprint, the user stories are agreed upon, documented, prioritized and estimated. The stories are chosen or assigned, so theoretically speaking everyone should know what they need to be working on and yet, without a daily stand up meeting, you will find that some of the team will veer of coarse and work on items they should not be working on. The time must be spent to take corrective measures and get the iteration or sprint back on target, but by this time the deadline will be blown.
A daily stand up will allow for the exposure of discovered issues that could derail the team if not handled properly and will also allow for the senior level team members to help unblock the other team members so that everyone is pushing forward and is in sync with the project and technology goals.
Discovery is expected and can be managed when it is expected, but it should never be a surprise. It is only a surprise if you are not having daily communication with the team regarding their stories and individual progress. If the communication is limited to a frequency of once a week, you will get surprised by how off track the team wanders over the coarse of five days.
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