Worry About The Credit

Moved from DoNotWorryAboutTheCredit:

I disagree! Graham Bell invented the telephone, Marconi, the wireless telegraph, WardCunningham, the wiki and so on. They all wanted credit for their inventions and they all got the credit they wanted (and deserved). Some people don't want the credit but some do. So this rule does not apply to those who do want the credit

AntonioMeucci? wants to have a word with you.

So does NikolaTesla.

So does Nathan B. Stubblefield.

Who invented the internet? Who cracked the Enigma code? Who wrote this Wiki page? Who wrote the articles that AlbertEinstein read to give him the necessary insight to formulate the Theory of Special Relativity? Who knows? Who cares? Worrying about credit can sometimes slow down and complicate an accomplishment. It is more important that things get done than that someone get credit.

True, but simplistic. It requires resources to get things done, and those resources, being finite, need to be allocated strategically. This means they tend to go to those who have received credit for their past accomplishments, ie those who have "demonstrated" that they can use those resources effectively. You can't just keep giving the credit away because you will then be frozen out of the resources you need to keep on accomplishing.

I believe there may be an underlying point here. For any of us who are evaluated, it is important to receive credit for work (and avoid failures). The easiest way to accomplish this is to receive credit for work done (partially or fully) by others. It is nice to believe that one has a personal guardian supervisor who knows all and sees all. The truth is, one's supervisor will miss a lot of things unless they are brought to his attention, either by outside complaints, outside compliments (very rare), or internal self reporting. Smooth sailing does not get recognized, so often one needs to make sure your supervisor is aware of what you have accomplished.

"Toot your horn just enough to keep from getting run over." -- Paraphrased from a book of Rural Wisdom.

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From Much Ado about Nothing (Act V, Scene 2)

BEATRICE

It appears not in this confession: there's not one

wise man among twenty that will praise himself.

BENEDICK

An old, an old instance, Beatrice, that lived in

the time of good neighbours. If a man do not erect

in this age his own tomb ere he dies, he shall live

no longer in monument than the bell rings and the

widow weeps.