Asking one more question than everyone else is how you end up knowing one more thing than everyone else.

Knowledge piles up through small differences in habit rather than in bursts. One extra question per conversation is almost nothing on the day, and across a year it becomes hundreds of answers that the people around you simply never asked for. Nobody notices the gap opening, including you, until a moment arrives where you know something useful and cannot remember learning it.

Set yourself one additional question in every conversation this week, including the ones you expected nothing from. Ask it at the end, when the other person is relaxed. Keep a count for a fortnight.