NanoSteps Brainstorming 3 - And a Step to the Right

[Mamorien]

The helmet tilted again, and Lex got the impression he was being
studied for a long moment.  "Seriously?  You're as brilliant as
I was told you are.  Easily more intelligent than I am, and
that's no small compliment, given I'm one of the smartest people
in my home timeline.  But you've hobbled your intelligence, your
potential, so much so that you're useless to me."

He frowned, not liking the sound of that.  "Hobbled?  How?" 
Lex wondered where Mercy and his security team were -- they
should have stormed the office by now.

The man in gray paused, as if debating with himself, before
replying.  "You've wrapped yourself so tightly in your prejudices
and preconceptions that you can't accept anything that doesn't
mesh perfectly with your worldview.  If I've learned anything
about dimensional travel in the century or so I've been searching
for my home, it's that researching it requires an open mind and a
willingness to accept the unexpected and counterintuitive."  He
shrugged again.  "You just don't have the ... *flexibility* to
help me."  Lex thought he saw a smile flash across the man's
mostly-hidden face.  "Your subordinates know this, by the way.
They've learned not to present you with ... unacceptable facts
and conclusions.  They've realized that doing so often costs them
their jobs.  You should do something about that, it's a
disastrous trait for a CEO in the long run."

Did you happen to draw any inspiration from Lex's half of the latest Hermione's New Job chapter, or was it a case of convergent evolution? I ask only for information.