“I don’t know” is three words that make you smarter than people who pretend.

Admitting a gap is the fastest way to close it, which is why the people who say it most tend to learn quickest. Pretending buys about four minutes of looking capable and then leaves you with a hole nobody can help you fill, because nobody knows it is there. It spreads, too: one person saying it out loud gives the rest of the room permission. Usually half of them were in the same position.

Say it once this week somewhere it feels slightly costly, then follow it with a question. Notice who respects you more rather than less. That reaction tells you a lot about the room you are in.