managing

Our team has a new contractor. These last two weeks, he and I have worked on major problems with our computer system and it's quickly become obvious to me that he's smart, and praised the quality of his work to our higherups. Still, this week, while we were both struggling with the latest issue, we arrived at different solutions. I thought my approach was the way to go, but I told him to explain to me why his was better - and not to let my having authority over him influence his opinion about his solution. When he was done, I said "You were right, I was wrong."