Respond When a Senior Engineer Rejects Your Proposal

A senior engineer directly rejects your proposed approach. How would you respond, understand the objection, and help the team reach a sound decision? ### Constraints & Assumptions - The reason for the rejection is not given; do not assume either person is correct or acting in bad faith. - Separate disagreement about the proposal from the other person's seniority or delivery style. - Consider both time-sensitive decisions and situations where more evidence can be gathered. ### Clarifying Questions to Ask - What specific risk or requirement does the senior engineer believe the proposal misses? - Who owns the decision, and how much time is available to investigate alternatives? ```hint Before defending the whole proposal, identify the exact claim on which you disagree. ``` ### What a Strong Answer Covers The response should acknowledge the feedback, seek concrete reasoning, evaluate evidence, and adapt or defend the proposal appropriately. It should describe a proportionate escalation path and how to support a decision even if the original proposal is not chosen. ### Follow-up Questions - What if the objection is simply "we tried that before"? - What if the engineer is wrong about an important technical fact? - How would you handle repeated dismissive behavior separately from this decision?