The useful detail is often too ordinary to survive a boast.

When people tell the story of how they did something, the impressive parts stay and the practical parts fall out. What made the difference is usually dull: they started early, they asked someone, they did the same thing again on a bad day. None of that survives a retelling designed to sound remarkable, so the listener gets inspiration and no method.

When somebody describes an achievement, ask what a typical Tuesday looked like. The answer is less interesting and much more useful than the version they arrived with.