Do Not Worry About The Credit

"It is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit."

: -- Harry S Truman (1884-1972)

Why is Harry S Truman quoted? Why cite him? Why give him credit?

The people who count will know who did it - so don't worry about the credit. Credit is ephemeral at best. WhatHaveYouDoneForUsLately is the way the world works. Keep on truckin'... As the Red Queen says in Alice ThroughTheLookingGlass - you have to run as fast as this just to stay in one place. Swimming upstream is wonderful exercise, but you don't get anywhere very fast.

Well, a counter example: Almost every artist signs his paintings because after 300 years the painting may show up in some attic or some computer hard drive and no one knows who painted it and no one can study its history. Similarly, almost every programmer out there should put his name stamp on the source file. It could confuse people who read the source file if there are no stamps (and they won't know where to report bugs). BSD licensed code enjoys using copyright stamps for this very reason.. to give credit and reduce confusion in the source file.

Let others clamor for the credit. Seek first the personal satisfaction of knowing that you have done well. -- RaySchneider

Why did RaySchneider bother signing his name, if he didn't want credit for this quote? Heh. It's not just about credit, but about reducing confusion and organizing the world. For example, if I don't provide my phone number or email address on a website, that's very selfless of me... but at the same time people need to be able to contact authors and cite references for scientific verifiability and other purposes. A wiki, has this flaw.. in that it cannot be used as a valid source to cite. It is one of its great advantages, but also a great disadvantage at the same time.

Maybe if Van Gogh didn't sign his paintings he would have been better off financially (sarcastic laughter) and would have starved to death by the time he was 12 years old. I don't buy this page. Humans are emotional people who need to be recognized. The nationalism/nazi selfless approach is nice as an idealist approach though.

This is how I'd rather live my life, but it doesn't really work. Even the people who count don't know "who did it" unless someone tells them. And when it comes to getting the recognition and pay you earn, there is no better way than taking proactive steps to ensure you get the credit you deserve. In real life, people are more likely to complain in writing than to compliment in writing. In one job, I asked those who spontaneously complimented me to help me out by writing it in a note to the management of my company. In another job I didn't do this. A tremendous difference on my performance reviews re: customer satisfaction. And other than that I did exactly the same, except in the second one I made much more effort to improve. It's not opinion that changed, it's survey method. So distasteful as it is, my advice is, claim the credit where the credit is due.

This also seems to be a good reason to EncourageOthers.

The name of the pattern is do not worry about the credit. It is certainly prudent to TellPeopleWhatYouDid as part of BeProudOfYourRealAccomplishments. -- RaySchneider

It is often the case that though you tell people what you have done and you have pride in your accomplishments, that other more powerful and more strategically placed people may receive the credit. This is where some begin to worry that they have not gotten their just dues. Don't worry about the credit, even if your claims are just and true, You have done it and so now you can focus on improving your skills to do even more. Don't worry that the workplace may not be fair and objective in all cases.

KenIverson once told me that when he was in graduate school, he was concerned that others would try to steal his ideas. His advisor's response: "Don't worry about it. If your ideas are any good, you're going to have to force them down people's throats." -- AndrewKoenig

If you do worry about credit, try a credit monitoring service that notifies you anytime your credit report changes @ http://SpamUrlDeleted.com/ <- Haha, someone delete this spam once I stop laughing. funniest spam I've seen here yet.

Why is it that those who are most worried about getting credit are typically those whose contributions are least worthy of it?

See WorryAboutTheCredit for the opposing viewpoint. See DoNotWorryAboutTheBlame.