Consider it one of nature’s balancing forces: the better we get at a trade, the less we want to seem bad at it. It’s innocuous at first, until we stop ourselves from seeming confused. And thus, ego creeps into our work. It prevents us from wanting to ask questions that could betray a lack of experience. These “stupid questions” are how we learn.
Never fear stepping out of your role to just ask everyone, “What?” Sometimes learning skills that later make us appear to be well-rounded experts starts with asking others to explain it like we’re five. Sometimes you’ll find that everyone is confused, yet no one has stepped up to ask.