Cognitive Fingerprintby Max BernsteinThe six
expert tells.
Certain words can cover a decision you’ve stopped explaining. Listen for one, then go back to the moment around it.
“It’s always like an obvious solution. You just got to figure it out.”
I found this in my own transcripts. Someone showed me the same phrase in four conversations, months apart, before I heard the rule in it.
What got folded into “just”?
The step gets shrunk. Listen for just · simply · easy · it’s simple · no big deal · that’s all I did · that’s just what you do.
Words to listen for
just · simply · easy · it’s simple · no big deal · that’s all I did · that’s just what you do
“You just got to figure it out.”
That’s part of the sentence I found in my own transcripts. Start with the actual exchange.
Return to the skipped step.
Ask what happened between hearing the problem and asking the question. Leave space for the person to remember.
Name a check you can verify.
What did they notice? Which choice followed? The labels in this diagram are prompts, not a recovered account of the meeting.
“You just got to figure it out.”
That’s part of the sentence I found in my own transcripts. Start with the actual exchange.
Return to the skipped step.
Ask what happened between hearing the problem and asking the question. Leave space for the person to remember.
Name a check you can verify.
What did they notice? Which choice followed? The labels in this diagram are prompts, not a recovered account of the meeting.
What did you assume they knew?
Knowledge gets treated as shared. Listen for obviously · of course · naturally · clearly · everyone knows · common sense · anyone could do that · you know how it is.
Words to listen for
obviously · of course · naturally · clearly · everyone knows · common sense · anyone could do that · you know how it is
“Obviously” can skip the explanation.
The speaker may have thought it through and compressed the answer because nobody asked for more.
Consider a capable beginner.
What information would they need before the conclusion felt obvious to them?
Make the missing premise speakable.
Ask for the specific detail that made this conclusion fit. Keep it a question until the example supports an answer.
“Obviously” can skip the explanation.
The speaker may have thought it through and compressed the answer because nobody asked for more.
Consider a capable beginner.
What information would they need before the conclusion felt obvious to them?
Make the missing premise speakable.
Ask for the specific detail that made this conclusion fit. Keep it a question until the example supports an answer.
When does “always” apply?
A rule appears with no condition attached. Listen for always · never · the usual · standard · the way I do it · every time.
Words to listen for
always · never · the usual · standard · the way I do it · every time
“That’s the way I do it.”
A familiar sequence can sound like a rule that applies everywhere.
Ask when the routine begins.
What has to be true before they use it? The condition may have disappeared from the explanation.
Ask for a time it didn’t fit.
An example at the edge of the routine can help identify its conditions. It may also lead to an Exception Tell.
“That’s the way I do it.”
A familiar sequence can sound like a rule that applies everywhere.
Ask when the routine begins.
What has to be true before they use it? The condition may have disappeared from the explanation.
Ask for a time it didn’t fit.
An example at the edge of the routine can help identify its conditions. It may also lead to an Exception Tell.
What was the feeling responding to?
The knowledge is admitted and left unexplained. Listen for I just know · it’s hard to explain · gut · instinct · a feel for it · I can’t put it into words · intuition.
Words to listen for
I just know · it’s hard to explain · gut · instinct · a feel for it · I can’t put it into words · intuition
“I just know.”
Give the person time. A short answer to a broad question may be all you’ve heard so far.
Return to the details of the moment.
Timing, a mismatch, or a previous experience might matter. These are illustrative possibilities, not an explanation of anyone’s intuition.
Check possible cues against the occasion.
Ask what they actually noticed and remember considering. Leave the parts they can’t explain open.
“I just know.”
Give the person time. A short answer to a broad question may be all you’ve heard so far.
Return to the details of the moment.
Timing, a mismatch, or a previous experience might matter. These are illustrative possibilities, not an explanation of anyone’s intuition.
Check possible cues against the occasion.
Ask what they actually noticed and remember considering. Leave the parts they can’t explain open.
What changed the usual choice?
The rule for when the rule does not apply. Listen for it depends · normally, but · in this case · with this client · this time I · usually I would.
Words to listen for
it depends · normally, but · in this case · with this client · this time I · usually I would
“Normally I would…”
Establish what the person would usually do in this situation.
“…but here I didn’t.”
Find the detail that changed their judgment on this occasion.
Follow the different choice.
Ask why that detail mattered enough to depart from the process. This is the tell I pay particular attention to.
“Normally I would…”
Establish what the person would usually do in this situation.
“…but here I didn’t.”
Find the detail that changed their judgment on this occasion.
Follow the different choice.
Ask why that detail mattered enough to depart from the process. This is the tell I pay particular attention to.
Can we stay with one example?
The method itself gets denied. Listen for I don’t really have a method · I’m not that organized · it’s nothing special · I make it up as I go.
Words to listen for
I don’t really have a method · I’m not that organized · it’s nothing special · I make it up as I go
“I don’t really have a method.”
Be gentle, including with yourself. I’ve found that people can step back after surfacing something.
Ask about one occasion.
Let the person describe what happened without having to defend a claim about their method.
Record the decisions they can recall.
A sequence may become clearer as they describe it. Whether it repeats across occasions is a separate question.
“I don’t really have a method.”
Be gentle, including with yourself. I’ve found that people can step back after surfacing something.
Ask about one occasion.
Let the person describe what happened without having to defend a claim about their method.
Record the decisions they can recall.
A sequence may become clearer as they describe it. Whether it repeats across occasions is a separate question.
Go back to the moment.
Find the check or decision the word skipped. Write your answers next to the quote. If you can’t answer yet, note the occasion and come back with another recording.
↑ Back to the tellsQUOTE AND OCCASION What did I notice right before I said it? What would a capable beginner have done there instead? What did I already know that made the beginner’s move unnecessary? What can I verify from this exchange? What remains open?
Sometimes the signal has no word.
These moments can help you choose a passage to revisit. Mark the ones you heard in your recording. The checks stay in this page visit.
↑ Back to the tellsKeep the specific example close.
A tell marks a place to look. It doesn’t prove expertise or establish that a choice was unconscious. Ask what the person noticed and what they remember considering. An AI explanation of what the phrase hides remains a guess until it’s checked against the occasion.
↑ Back to the tellsLeave open the parts that stay open.
What this guide draws on
I developed these groupings through my experience and research. This guide adapts my article, The Six Expert Tells. Added diagrams and explanatory examples are illustrative; they don’t establish what a speaker knew or how a particular decision happened.
Read the original article
# The Six Expert Tells ## The words that hide a decision When you describe something you are good at, certain words show up. You “just” asked a question. The answer was “obviously” wrong. You “simply” changed the order. Anyone could have done it. Each of those words skips over a decision. In conversation that is fine. When you are trying to see what you know, it is a problem, because the decision is still there. The word covers it. Here is one from my own transcripts. In a client meeting I said, “It’s always like an obvious solution. You just got to figure it out.” Three of these words in one sentence, and I had no idea the sentence was a rule I ran on. Someone showed me the same phrase in four conversations, months apart, before I heard it. So here is a list. It is what I have personally found through experience and research. I call them tells, the poker word for the small signal that gives away what someone is holding. When you hear one of these in your own recording, stop and look at what happened right before and right after it. ## The six tells **1\. The Ease Tell.** The step gets shrunk. just · simply · easy · it’s simple · no big deal · that’s all I did · that’s just what you do **2\. The Obvious Tell.** Knowledge gets treated as shared. obviously · of course · naturally · clearly · everyone knows · common sense · anyone could do that · you know how it is **3\. The Habit Tell.** A rule appears with no condition attached. always · never · the usual · standard · the way I do it · every time **4\. The Gut Tell.** The knowledge is admitted and left unexplained. I just know · it’s hard to explain · gut · instinct · a feel for it · I can’t put it into words · intuition **5\. The Exception Tell.** The rule for when the rule does not apply. it depends · normally, but · in this case · with this client · this time I · usually I would **6\. The Shrug.** The method itself gets denied. I don’t really have a method · I’m not that organized · it’s nothing special · I make it up as I go The Exception Tell is the one to pay attention to. The moment you say “normally I would, but here I didn’t” is the moment your judgment is doing the work your process cannot. The Shrug is the one to be gentle with, including in yourself. It usually means the person just surfaced something and wants to step back from it. ## What to do when you hear one Go back to the surrounding exchange. Find the check or decision the word skipped and ask three questions about that moment. * What did I notice right before I said it? * What would a capable beginner have done there instead? * What did I already know that made the beginner’s move unnecessary? Write the answers next to the quote. If you cannot answer yet, write down the occasion and come back to it with another recording. ## Signals that are not words The same thing shows up without a word attached. * You answered before the question finished. * You skipped a step while explaining it to someone else. * You changed direction with no stated reason. * You used a strong word where a neutral one would have done. * You treated something as settled that other people would argue about. ## What these words do not tell you A tell marks a place to look. It does not prove expertise, and it does not tell you the choice was unconscious. Someone who says “I just know” may need time to explain, or they may have given a short answer to a broad question. Someone who says “obviously” may have thought it through and compressed the explanation because nobody asked for the long version. The way to find out is a specific example. Look at what they noticed and what they remember considering. Leave open the parts that stay open. One more caution. A language model will find these words for you in seconds, and it will also happily explain what each one hides. Treat that explanation as a guess until you have checked it against the moment itself. ## Where this comes from The idea that fluent experts give the worst explanations is old and well supported. Polanyi called it knowing more than we can tell. Klein’s work on decision-making found the same thing in firefighters and nurses, whose best calls came with the least explanation. The specific words are what I hear in the transcripts I work with. The groupings are mine.