Imagine this: Seeking buy-in for your new product or process proposal at work, you pick on one raised hand around the conference table for a question. The person — whom you know has deep, specialized knowledge in his area — asks a detailed question. You have done your homework, and so you answer it using the specifics of the example he has used. Then he asks a follow-up. And another. And another. Each time, he nitpicks a specific part of your response, saying something to the effect of, “I see where you’re going with that, but here are the eighteen problems with it; it’s not your fault, you just don’t know the specifics of this situation like I do.”