Admissions: Accounting 'Oh you won't be able to do that," she told me. "I tried all morning." I looked askance at her, wanting so badly to come right out and say, "Oh yeah? Watch me!" I kept my mouth shut, though. She didn't that as a personal affront; it was true. I knew that our new payroll software was full of glitches and that it caused everyone in the office to want to throw their computers out of the window. I didn't have much time to waste that day, as I was responsible for delivering a set of pension records to the CFO that afternoon; as much as I wanted to prove myself, I couldn't afford to fiddle endlessly...

However, I just knew that the solution was right around the corner. If I could figure out how to work with the new software system, I could complete the payroll in less than half the time it usually took. Forging ahead, I read through the manual and help menus, trying each and every solution offered. My pessimistic coworker, seeing that I wasn't giving up, came over to my desk to watch me work. Standing hunched over my terminal, she made a few suggestions based on her past failures. Listening to her experiences helped save some time, as we avoided dead-ends. Pretty soon, we were working in tandem: she…