[otherdave]

Can you explain why the new person's influence fades so quickly? The new team member who says "I know how to fix all of your problems" on day one looks like an arrogant jerk.

The team member who starts to fit in and then says to the right people "It looks like our system has a memory management problem. I've got a lot of experience with this type of issue. Can I help out with designing a solution?" is far more likely to get into a constructive dialog and may move things forward.

If the OP wasn't brought in with the goal of saving a project that was in dire straits, then trying to fix what you think are the biggest problems immediately isn't going to go over well.

[yitchelle]

I think you are pretty much right. As technical as our industry is, we are all humans; emotions, anxiety etc, comes into play when dealing with another person. Approaching it in the right manner will reduce the barrier.