I have watched clever people make the same mistake over and over.

Pretending they understand something because they are embarrassed to ask.

You just did it.

There is no shame in saying, “I don’t understand.”

In fact, it can save you enormous amounts of time.

Some might.

But consider the alternative.

You nod.

You pretend.

You make a mistake because you were too proud to ask one tiny question.

Exactly.

There is another trick.

Ask people to explain things to you.

Not because you are incapable.

Because people often reveal their best thinking when they have to explain it clearly.

Yes.

And occasionally it will expose someone who has absolutely no idea what they are talking about.

Ask the embarrassing question. You can recover from looking uninformed. Recovering from a mistake you could have prevented is much harder.