In an organization like ours where there are 366 people, you are going to have people who have varying abilities, and I see an intellectual bully to be every bit as vicious as a schoolyard bully. We really try to prevent this type of behavior. This sounds like a problem that is common in many organizations. Then there are those that you have to let lie. My style is to get up early in the morning and go to bed early at night, and never, ever try to solve a problem in the afternoon.
Problems are so much easier to grasp and analyze and ponder early in the morning.
Invariably, if I have a problem I will go to bed at night thinking about it and wake up with a solution. Whether or not it is our final solution, we can usually install it and see if it works. If it doesn't, then we change it. We don't have a hang-up about making a better decision. His message is that first you have to reach way out and give yourself a great big dream.