The new hire is faster than me — and the question I asked over lunch

"Everyone, learn from this one." The boss said it lightly, mid-meeting, pointing at the screen. The room clapped. He clapped too — his hands just a little stiffer than usual.

What takes him half a day, the new hire finishes in two hours. He smiled, nodded, then sat at his desk for a long while in front of a coffee gone cold. He didn't dislike the kid. What bothered him was one small thought on repeat: maybe I'm falling behind. Sitting still wasn't going to make him any faster, so before logging off he sent one line: lunch tomorrow?

Some days he looks back at all those years and wonders what they were for. Then a difficult client called, and the new hire — the fastest person in the room — froze, not knowing what to say. He rolled his chair over, sat beside them, and walked them through it line by line. Slower, it turns out, isn't the same as worse; each of them is just good at a different thing.

At the usual lunch spot he asked straight out: "Could you show me how you do that?" The new hire's eyes went wide — then they turned the laptop around and explained for the whole break. The new person, it turned out, had been waiting for someone to ask. He opened his notebook and wrote it down, step by step.

Pride saves face for a few days. What you learn stays much longer.

Where you work, is someone waiting for you to ask?