Be the dumbest in the room.
Ask more than you answer. Let the work do the talking.
The temptation will always be to perform intelligence in the room. The sharp analysis, the confident take, the reference nobody else got. The real intelligence asks the dumbs questions others are too proud to ask, listens harder, and lets the work carry the argument.
- 01Ask more than you answer, especially in meetings with deep experts
- 02Ask the dumb question before someone else has to. It's usually the best one
- 03Don't reference-drop, jargon-drop, or name-drop. The urge to signal is the enemy
- 04Let the work speak. When you're right, the output says so. When you're wrong, you say so first