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Comment by CalRobert | Hacker News Reader

I remember when I was early in my career and fixed an enormous flaw in ad allocation for a large online publisher. It led to easily over a million extra in revenue that year.

My boss was delighted to take credit for it while also ensuring I stayed on message that it wasn't actually a result of him screwing up and being generally incompetent. I eventually figured I had nothing to lose and talked to his boss (politely of course) just saying how successful that had been and that I had plenty of other ideas for improvement. It was not well received.

But I hear my old boss is doing quite well these days.

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It led to easily over a million extra in revenue that year. My boss was delighted to take credit for it

Had a similar experience once. A small change generated $2m/year extra revenue. That amount just about covered the bonuses of two execs while I got the standard 3% raise. Not the only reason, but I left shortly afterwards.

I recall when I did an early web project in 94 using DSDM (agile) and two of use delivered in a month what another team had quoted 2 years for I got a £25 voucher :-)

I put it together with the one I had from my prior project and brought a rio diamond mp3 player.

Dishonest people will be a constant obstacle, but communication is also important so others know what your contribution is. There can't be progress without measurement.

Being accurate and quantifiable without becoming confrontational is an art though, but ultimately necessary. Going over people can often lead to worse results. Eventually the truth does come out but whether it's worth the time and effort is up to you.

I had another offer lined up when I decided to chat with the boss' boss. It went about how I expected, I took the offer, and learned a good deal about how business works in the process.

Communication is important - very important - but it's also often what people focus on when the reality is just a bigger pain in the ass ("so and so is a selfish twit who takes credit for others' work" is much harder to say than "we need to address communication issues between departments")

I think that's an issue both in communications and in handling people.

For example, did you have to take credit for that particular situation? What was the true downside of your boss taking credit? Why not cover for him and gain the ally? Build the relationship and you'll often find that it pays back in multiples.

Business is 99% about relationships. The only way you can get what you want is by helping others get what they want.

I don't get it - his boss took credit for his work, likely without his consent or even knowledge (I'd guess he came to know after his boss took credit). And yet, you want him to cover for his boss? He also mentioned his boss was incompetent. How can you trust such a person to watch out for you, even if you let it go?

Because relationships matter, and that's how you build that trust in the first place.

Why not work with them, teach them, and make them better. Instead of being upset, be on their side. Almost always, they'll help you in return. Being confrontational and going around them though, will only guarantee more negative outcomes. Remember that your boss's boss and other colleagues probably don't want to deal with someone who is seemingly more interested in getting credit rather than getting things done.

I'm glad your life has led you to have such faith in management. I hope it's because you've been treated well. If you're early in your career and think this is how it works most places, I worry you may be in for a rude awakening.

I had a colleague who once told me "the trick to making good ideas happen is to make your boss think it was their idea". And they were completely right! It didn't stop them from quitting in frustration years later having never been promoted.

I had a new job and a pay raise lined up. It was mostly to toot my horn after feeling slighted, to be completely honest. I was young and naive at the time (and a bit less circumspect).

These days I'd just quietly polish the CV and move along. But I have a much better job now.

Wrong. Bad actors should be punished.

Relationships are often more important than the right solution.

>Eventually the truth does come out

Why does the truth eventually come out? Or is this an assumption?

Because performance is unlikely to be repeated and at some point the person who is wrongly taking credit will not be able to perform, but this can take days or decades depending on the organization.

Decades? Are you kidding? Nobody's got time for that. Least of all people like myself who started in 2008 when the economy was utter garbage.

If you don't manage to build a decent career/salary/position by your mid-thirties in tech you're quite likely screwed (though before I'm too depressing, I understand there are counterexamples here on HN). Waiting a year or two for recognition is career suicide.

The point is it's highly variable. As stated in the first comment: whether it's worth the time and effort is up to you.

I'd argue that 1 year is way too short. The lack of patience causes far more problems today than building up the relationships and gaining the network and momentum to get into higher positions. Most people I know who stuck to a clear goal within a organization that has openings have done better than those who kept jumping around looking for the quick rise.

And if it takes decades, well, their career is made.

Or they find a scapegoat

Did your boss hire you? Did your boss ask you to look at it?

The boss could very easily at least make it known which engineer did the good work to fix it. If that isn't standard practice, something is seriously wrong. I make it a goal to be clear about who did the work when talking about something my team accomplished, even if I had the idea.

No, and no.

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