Taking credit... - Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community

JadziaDax · 08-03-2003, 01:01 AM

This is not my specific situation, but it's something I've given a lot of thought to lately:

The situation:

You work hard. You work really hard. You do the entire project/job/whatever by yourself, then someone (let's call him "Jack") comes along either just as your are finishing or just as you've completed the project. Jack is the first person you speak to about the project. You tell Jack how proud you are of yourself for completing it (whether it's on time or just that it was not an easy task). Jack feeds you all kinds of lines about how great that is and such... You take a break.

Now, either the boss walks by while you're taking a break, or Jack leaves you to go straight to the boss... however it happens, Jack is now taking credit for your hard work. It may not be complete credit, but Jack puts his name onto something he had nothing to do with. This leads to Jack's promotion or pay raise, while you get nothing (in most cases).

Has this ever happened to you? How do you avoid this happening to you? Don't you feel that if you stand up and say "Excuse me, but he didn't do it, I did," it would make you look like an attention whore? Especially if it happened more than once? What do you say to Jack? Do you say anything at all? How do you handle a situation like this and come up on top?

Discuss

Nisses · 08-03-2003, 02:03 AM

attention whore or not, I for one would maybe have that happen once, and afterwards tell him once he better not try that again; purposely ignore the same guy on days of finishing up a project.

If he succeeded in doing this twice, I 'd damn well speak up about it. Also, if there is a public presentation about it, I would make sure he gets to handle audience questions, and prepare ahead of time and ask a couple of friends in the audience to ask some really difficult or nitpicky or detailed questions. Have him stutter through one or two of them, and then step in and finish the rest off in a dash, so there's no question who's baby this is

addendum on a larger scale:
Except when he is my boss. That's a different matter, he gets to put his name on it, since it's his department and he reports the results of his dept. to the people upstairs. So I can agree with that. (If he would erase my name off of the whole project and replace it with his though, that would again be a different matter.)

test1001 · 08-03-2003, 02:36 AM

it can make u really miserable when someone is always taking credit for what you’ve done....best thing to do is not ignore that its happened but to have a quiet word with "Jack", this should make him/her feel uneasy taking credit next time – if it doesn’t you’ll just have to speak up in front of everyone and embarrass him/her!

tenchi069 · 08-03-2003, 02:52 AM

if Jack is your subordinate, then you can go to your equals or boss to inform them of what he did. If Jack is your equal and you are not a "team" then go to your boss. If Jack is your equal and you ARE a team, ask Jack to go to your boss with you so he can explain how he was mistaken ( and you are there to witness it ). If Jack is your boss, then I have to agree with Nisses. YOU are HIS department, however if he will not give you the recognition you deserve, it is time to start job hunting and find a place that appreciates you.

JadziaDax · 08-03-2003, 03:46 AM

This time it may have been "Jack"... the question isn't if the SAME person does it over and over again... It's different people. This time "Jack", next time "John", the time after "Julie"... What do you do? Everyone takes credit for your doings... Okay, once in a while you get the credit, but when someone else has the opportunity, the snatch it from under you.

No, Jack is not a subordinate, Jack is not the boss, and there is no TEAM in the situation. It wasn't a TEAM project.

Now, what do you do?

And yes, it is a matter of feeling appreciated. The people this happens to don't necessarily want a plaque with their names on it. The pay raise would be nice, but not a necessity.

(And by the way, this is just a general question, it isn't about me. I'm a teacher - remember? - and therefore don't work in that kind of an environment. Everything I do is classroom related and all my acheivements stand out).

Nisses · 08-03-2003, 05:13 AM

jup, I dunno why posted it, maybe to get a discussion class too

anyway, my point still stands only a bit broader:
I'll purposely ignore speaking about it to people until I can "unveil" it in it's entire form to the boss.

Hey, an artist doesn't go about parading down the street with his new painting either, he waits and builds up some tension and hype before inviting people over for champagne and the big unveiling. (ok, the analogy is a bit extreme, but you get my drift)

ARTelevision · 08-03-2003, 06:50 AM

I'd say that in the first example, the boss knows Jack is an ass who takes credit for everything. And if the boss is a good leader he knows the score and appreciates people for the contributions they make.

In the extended examples that follow, since only the person who gets no credit is remaining the same in the various situations, the natural place to look for issues is the tendency that the person may have in either never getting credit or else perceiving that he or she never gets the credit.

In general though, I do feel that in a hierarchy, good leaders are well aware of the contributions of individuals - no matter how it may appear to the observer. If you have a bad boss who can be fooled by asses like Jack, for example, that's the problem.

JumpinJesus · 08-03-2003, 06:56 AM

I agree with Art on this. A good supervisor knows his/her employees and knows if "Jack" truly deserves the credit.

As well, if this happens often and with other people taking the credit, I would suggest that the person being denied his or her due credit learn to become more assertive. It seems this person is viewed as a doormat by his or her co-workers.

Ralvek · 08-03-2003, 07:22 AM

At my work I am the new guy in my position, but I am also the best and fastest...I am constantly helping other people out. I've found it necessary to point this out on several occassions to other people. Some might call this bragging, but if you don't talk big about yourself who will? Who will notice your work? In the huge companies we have today you need to make yourself stand out from the crowd! Let them know you are doing the work you are and that you kick ass as much as you do.

denim · 08-03-2003, 07:50 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by JadziaDax
No, Jack is not a subordinate, Jack is not the boss, and there is no TEAM in the situation. It wasn't a TEAM project.

Oh. Well, then turn-about is fair play: stab him in the back ASAP. Tell the boss what Jack did, then take every opportunity to make Jack's life miserable if you can w/o impacting your own.

If you let this happen more than once, you're an idiot. You might want to fix that.

Vindictive? Moi? You bet your ass, if it affects my job. Fuck the rest of them, unless they're on the same team I'm on. We (my team) compete for resources with the rest, in the scenario you're describing. It's not useful to ME or MY COWORKERS to have some shmuck claim our accomplishments.

Note that I've not had this particular situation happen to me, but then I'm a bit more assertive than the mark you're describing.

Fly · 08-03-2003, 07:56 AM

i'd be kickin' jack's ass if he pulled that shit on me.

jack seems to be a lazy prick preying on hard working people.

fuckin' lazy bastards.

wake up and get a damn job and be proud of your own work....don't STEAL someone elses pride and joy.

fuckin' lazy bastards.

Gebbinn · 08-03-2003, 08:18 AM

My opinion, screw worrying about being an attention whore. The simple matter is, you let people walk all over you, your gonna get walked all over.

Me, I would tell the boss immediately it was my work, not Jacks. This can be done without being seen as an attention whore. Its a simple matter of saying "Hey, I worked my ass off on that, and jack stole it from me.. if you dont believe me, ask Jack."

If this fails, then me personally would find jack in a back alley and make damn certain he never does it again, and make sure its public enough that neither does anyone else. (not really but I would really fantasize about it)

Its a matter of standing up for yourself, and not letting anyone take advantage of you. You dont have to stand idly by and let other people bully you, because thats essentially what this is. If you stand up for yourself once or twice, then no one will try to mess with you again.

Cynthetiq · 08-03-2003, 08:41 AM

i'm not one to be in the limelight... i don't like the attention, i like to put my head down and work. and keep working. and still keep working.

personally my work ethic speaks tomes.... my bosses have never missed a beat, if they have, they were not my bosses for very long before they were tossed out and I was sitting in their chair.

I don't do it for the glory. I do it for the sake of doing a job well done. Period.

yournamehere · 08-03-2003, 09:02 AM

I work with a guy like that - the word "we" is not in his vocabulary, and the boss can't even get comfotable in his chair every morning before this guy runs in saying "Look what I did - look what I did."

He recently put together a proposal for a municipal project we're seeking, and purposefully left my resume off the proposal. If that wasn't bad enough - he also embellished <i>his</i> resume to include all of <i>my</i> achievements!

The result? I went to the boss and asserted my feelings on the matter, and that guy got a major ass-chewing, and word got around to everyone in the office what a lying, back-stabbing prick he is.

Wanting the credit you deserve is not being an attention whore.
Wanting credit you don't deserves makes you someone not worth knowing..

spectre · 08-03-2003, 09:07 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Cynthetiq
i'm not one to be in the limelight... i don't like the attention, i like to put my head down and work. and keep working. and still keep working.

I don't do it for the glory. I do it for the sake of doing a job well done. Period.

Same here. And I don't like getting credit for things I didn't do. If someone else helped me and the person in charge congratulates me, I'll tell them what role others have played.

mortius · 08-03-2003, 09:07 PM

We have a supervisor at work who takes credit for people's work all the time, it blows but what can you do? You ever been on a boat that gets rocked too hard?

We have another supervisor who fucks things up all the time and I'll take over the project and correct the mistakes, last time this almost came back to bite me in the ass, as the manager thought I started the project and caused all the down time. Another member of staff let the manager know I didn't cause the problem.

Makes life fun to work in such a place, but hey money is money.

I work to live, not live for work.

alpha phi · 08-04-2003, 04:32 AM

I think the person who "allows" Jack, jill, mike, joe, and Julie to take undue credit for their work is a doormat, and needs to learn to speak up for themselves.

At work, I keep my head down, mouth shut, do my appointed tasks, and treat others the way I'd have them treat me.
My bosses know this
My coworkers know this
On the odd occation I am treated unfairly, I boldly speak out........
Everyone takes notice
Problem solved 99.9% of the time.
Then there's that rare asswipe who never gets the point..........
mysteriously once a week....his tire goes flat 30 minutes before work.

erion · 08-04-2003, 11:37 AM

We used to have a guy who worked for our customer that would request all sorts of stupid data from our systems. No one suspected anything until he took all of our nicely detailed charts and stuff and put them together for a presentation for the VP's and directors without giving any credit to anyone in our operation.

He's fairly lucky that he got a promotion out of the deal, because his productivity at our building was approaching an all-time low as no one would give him information anymore.

HeyAgain · 08-04-2003, 09:14 PM

Couldn't you just go to your boss and "discuss the project" with Jack in the room.

Ask Jack to explain the details of the project and the information that was found. Then, you can go ahead and ask specific questions that you personally know the answers to that Jack won't have a clue what the answer would be.

I have used this method a couple of times to let my teacher/employer know who really did the work and shame the person(s) who took the credit.

EDIT: I just noticed someone else has suggested this method already.

08-03-2003, 01:01 AM	#1 (permalink)
JadziaDax Loser Location: who the fuck cares?	Taking credit... This is not my specific situation, but it's something I've given a lot of thought to lately: The situation: You work hard. You work really hard. You do the entire project/job/whatever by yourself, then someone (let's call him "Jack") comes along either just as your are finishing or just as you've completed the project. Jack is the first person you speak to about the project. You tell Jack how proud you are of yourself for completing it (whether it's on time or just that it was not an easy task). Jack feeds you all kinds of lines about how great that is and such... You take a break. Now, either the boss walks by while you're taking a break, or Jack leaves you to go straight to the boss... however it happens, Jack is now taking credit for your hard work. It may not be complete credit, but Jack puts his name onto something he had nothing to do with. This leads to Jack's promotion or pay raise, while you get nothing (in most cases). Has this ever happened to you? How do you avoid this happening to you? Don't you feel that if you stand up and say "Excuse me, but he didn't do it, I did," it would make you look like an attention whore? Especially if it happened more than once? What do you say to Jack? Do you say anything at all? How do you handle a situation like this and come up on top? Discuss

08-03-2003, 02:03 AM	#2 (permalink)
Nisses Shade Location: Belgium	attention whore or not, I for one would maybe have that happen once, and afterwards tell him once he better not try that again; purposely ignore the same guy on days of finishing up a project. If he succeeded in doing this twice, I 'd damn well speak up about it. Also, if there is a public presentation about it, I would make sure he gets to handle audience questions, and prepare ahead of time and ask a couple of friends in the audience to ask some really difficult or nitpicky or detailed questions. Have him stutter through one or two of them, and then step in and finish the rest off in a dash, so there's no question who's baby this is addendum on a larger scale: Except when he is my boss. That's a different matter, he gets to put his name on it, since it's his department and he reports the results of his dept. to the people upstairs. So I can agree with that. (If he would erase my name off of the whole project and replace it with his though, that would again be a different matter.) __________________ Moderation should be moderately moderated.

08-03-2003, 02:52 AM	#4 (permalink)
tenchi069 Lost Location: One step closer to the padded cell...	if Jack is your subordinate, then you can go to your equals or boss to inform them of what he did. If Jack is your equal and you are not a "team" then go to your boss. If Jack is your equal and you ARE a team, ask Jack to go to your boss with you so he can explain how he was mistaken ( and you are there to witness it ). If Jack is your boss, then I have to agree with Nisses. YOU are HIS department, however if he will not give you the recognition you deserve, it is time to start job hunting and find a place that appreciates you. __________________ ERROR- PLBSAK Problem Lies Between Seat and Keyboard.

08-03-2003, 05:13 AM	#6 (permalink)
Nisses Shade Location: Belgium	jup, I dunno why posted it, maybe to get a discussion class too anyway, my point still stands only a bit broader: I'll purposely ignore speaking about it to people until I can "unveil" it in it's entire form to the boss. Hey, an artist doesn't go about parading down the street with his new painting either, he waits and builds up some tension and hype before inviting people over for champagne and the big unveiling. (ok, the analogy is a bit extreme, but you get my drift) __________________ Moderation should be moderately moderated.

08-03-2003, 06:50 AM	#7 (permalink)
ARTelevision I change Location: USA	I'd say that in the first example, the boss knows Jack is an ass who takes credit for everything. And if the boss is a good leader he knows the score and appreciates people for the contributions they make. In the extended examples that follow, since only the person who gets no credit is remaining the same in the various situations, the natural place to look for issues is the tendency that the person may have in either never getting credit or else perceiving that he or she never gets the credit. In general though, I do feel that in a hierarchy, good leaders are well aware of the contributions of individuals - no matter how it may appear to the observer. If you have a bad boss who can be fooled by asses like Jack, for example, that's the problem. __________________ create evolution Last edited by ARTelevision; 08-04-2003 at 05:40 AM..

08-03-2003, 02:36 AM	#3 (permalink)
test1001 Upright	it can make u really miserable when someone is always taking credit for what you’ve done....best thing to do is not ignore that its happened but to have a quiet word with "Jack", this should make him/her feel uneasy taking credit next time – if it doesn’t you’ll just have to speak up in front of everyone and embarrass him/her!

08-03-2003, 03:46 AM	#5 (permalink)
JadziaDax Loser Location: who the fuck cares?	This time it may have been "Jack"... the question isn't if the SAME person does it over and over again... It's different people. This time "Jack", next time "John", the time after "Julie"... What do you do? Everyone takes credit for your doings... Okay, once in a while you get the credit, but when someone else has the opportunity, the snatch it from under you. No, Jack is not a subordinate, Jack is not the boss, and there is no TEAM in the situation. It wasn't a TEAM project. Now, what do you do? And yes, it is a matter of feeling appreciated. The people this happens to don't necessarily want a plaque with their names on it. The pay raise would be nice, but not a necessity. (And by the way, this is just a general question, it isn't about me. I'm a teacher - remember? - and therefore don't work in that kind of an environment. Everything I do is classroom related and all my acheivements stand out).

08-03-2003, 06:56 AM	#8 (permalink)
JumpinJesus Junkie Location: Chicago	I agree with Art on this. A good supervisor knows his/her employees and knows if "Jack" truly deserves the credit. As well, if this happens often and with other people taking the credit, I would suggest that the person being denied his or her due credit learn to become more assertive. It seems this person is viewed as a doormat by his or her co-workers. __________________ "I can normally tell how intelligent a man is by how stupid he thinks I am" - Cormac McCarthy, All The Pretty Horses

08-03-2003, 07:22 AM	#9 (permalink)
Ralvek Crazy Location: MN	At my work I am the new guy in my position, but I am also the best and fastest...I am constantly helping other people out. I've found it necessary to point this out on several occassions to other people. Some might call this bragging, but if you don't talk big about yourself who will? Who will notice your work? In the huge companies we have today you need to make yourself stand out from the crowd! Let them know you are doing the work you are and that you kick ass as much as you do. __________________ Ban country music, it promotes inbreeding.

08-03-2003, 07:56 AM	#11 (permalink)
Fly see the links to my music? Location: Beautiful British Columbia	i'd be kickin' jack's ass if he pulled that shit on me. jack seems to be a lazy prick preying on hard working people. fuckin' lazy bastards. wake up and get a damn job and be proud of your own work....don't STEAL someone elses pride and joy. fuckin' lazy bastards. __________________ BASTARD SterlingStudios

08-03-2003, 08:18 AM	#12 (permalink)
Gebbinn Crazy	My opinion, screw worrying about being an attention whore. The simple matter is, you let people walk all over you, your gonna get walked all over. Me, I would tell the boss immediately it was my work, not Jacks. This can be done without being seen as an attention whore. Its a simple matter of saying "Hey, I worked my ass off on that, and jack stole it from me.. if you dont believe me, ask Jack." If this fails, then me personally would find jack in a back alley and make damn certain he never does it again, and make sure its public enough that neither does anyone else. (not really but I would really fantasize about it) Its a matter of standing up for yourself, and not letting anyone take advantage of you. You dont have to stand idly by and let other people bully you, because thats essentially what this is. If you stand up for yourself once or twice, then no one will try to mess with you again. __________________ There are 10 types of people in this world... Those who understand Binary and those who dont. I aim to please.. to bad for you I am a horrible shot. Every time you open your mouth, stupid comes out.

08-03-2003, 08:41 AM	#13 (permalink)
Cynthetiq Tilted Cat Head Administrator Location: Manhattan, NY	i'm not one to be in the limelight... i don't like the attention, i like to put my head down and work. and keep working. and still keep working. personally my work ethic speaks tomes.... my bosses have never missed a beat, if they have, they were not my bosses for very long before they were tossed out and I was sitting in their chair. I don't do it for the glory. I do it for the sake of doing a job well done. Period. __________________ I don't care if you are black, white, purple, green, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, hippie, cop, bum, admin, user, English, Irish, French, Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Buddhist, Muslim, indian, cowboy, tall, short, fat, skinny, emo, punk, mod, rocker, straight, gay, lesbian, jock, nerd, geek, Democrat, Republican, Libertarian, Independent, driver, pedestrian, or bicyclist, either you're an asshole or you're not. What's the best nation in the world? DO-NATION!

08-03-2003, 09:02 AM	#14 (permalink)
yournamehere Invisible Location: tentative, at best	I work with a guy like that - the word "we" is not in his vocabulary, and the boss can't even get comfotable in his chair every morning before this guy runs in saying "Look what I did - look what I did." He recently put together a proposal for a municipal project we're seeking, and purposefully left my resume off the proposal. If that wasn't bad enough - he also embellished <i>his</i> resume to include all of <i>my</i> achievements! The result? I went to the boss and asserted my feelings on the matter, and that guy got a major ass-chewing, and word got around to everyone in the office what a lying, back-stabbing prick he is. Wanting the credit you deserve is not being an attention whore. Wanting credit you don't deserves makes you someone not worth knowing.. __________________ If you want to avoid 95% of internet spelling errors: "If your ridiculous pants are too loose, you're definitely going to lose them. Tell your two loser friends over there that they're going to lose theirs, too." It won't hurt your fashion sense, either.

08-03-2003, 09:07 PM	#16 (permalink)
mortius Tilted Location: Houston, Tx	We have a supervisor at work who takes credit for people's work all the time, it blows but what can you do? You ever been on a boat that gets rocked too hard? We have another supervisor who fucks things up all the time and I'll take over the project and correct the mistakes, last time this almost came back to bite me in the ass, as the manager thought I started the project and caused all the down time. Another member of staff let the manager know I didn't cause the problem. Makes life fun to work in such a place, but hey money is money. I work to live, not live for work. __________________ What's Your Addiction?

08-04-2003, 04:32 AM	#17 (permalink)
alpha phi seeker Location: home	I think the person who "allows" Jack, jill, mike, joe, and Julie to take undue credit for their work is a doormat, and needs to learn to speak up for themselves. At work, I keep my head down, mouth shut, do my appointed tasks, and treat others the way I'd have them treat me. My bosses know this My coworkers know this On the odd occation I am treated unfairly, I boldly speak out........ Everyone takes notice Problem solved 99.9% of the time. Then there's that rare asswipe who never gets the point.......... mysteriously once a week....his tire goes flat 30 minutes before work. __________________ All ideas in this communication are sole property of the voices in my head. (C) 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 "The Voices" (TM). All rights reserved.

08-04-2003, 11:37 AM	#18 (permalink)
erion Psycho	We used to have a guy who worked for our customer that would request all sorts of stupid data from our systems. No one suspected anything until he took all of our nicely detailed charts and stuff and put them together for a presentation for the VP's and directors without giving any credit to anyone in our operation. He's fairly lucky that he got a promotion out of the deal, because his productivity at our building was approaching an all-time low as no one would give him information anymore.

08-04-2003, 09:14 PM	#19 (permalink)
HeyAgain Psycho	Couldn't you just go to your boss and "discuss the project" with Jack in the room. Ask Jack to explain the details of the project and the information that was found. Then, you can go ahead and ask specific questions that you personally know the answers to that Jack won't have a clue what the answer would be. I have used this method a couple of times to let my teacher/employer know who really did the work and shame the person(s) who took the credit. EDIT: I just noticed someone else has suggested this method already. Last edited by HeyAgain; 08-04-2003 at 09:16 PM..