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Ask HN: My team mate took credit for my work. What do I do

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Re: Ask HN: My team mate took credit for my work. What do I do

#11

Post by nuna »

slededit wrote: post #6
pcunite wrote: post #4

The feeling of being relevant and contributing is a very powerful force. Its why people will take enhancers that help them win and place high in local 5K run races. Like it even matters, but to them it is everything. Worth cheating to get it they think. Something that has always helped me is knowing that cheaters can't lead, they can only follow. He'll need to steal credit from someone else to keep this "look" going.…

"Visibility" is one of the major drivers of promotion in every organization. They don't know your good if they can't see it. If there are no mitigating circumstances here, like "actually we worked together but I did most of it". Then it should be a simple matter to talk to the boss and get to the bottom of how it was misattributed. No accusations, no assumptions but a fact finding mission. The goal here is to find ou…

There wasn't collaboration other than plugging it into his code. It was not an oversight it was very clear he claimed to have written it all.You are correct though, partly my fault, why not mention it first myself, why wait for someone else to.

Re: Ask HN: My team mate took credit for my work. What do I do

#12

Post by nuna »

georgeam wrote: post #9

Another thing that would be useful is for your version-control systems (git/svn etc) to be able to say precisely who made which changes. That gives you proof of who did which work. Even if your company/org does not use version control, you can use it independently as an individual, and have a complete development history of your own which documents your work. It would be harder for someone to claim your work if you h…

I version control everything, but my boss is not technical so this all seems like magic and you can make something simple a big deal easily.

Re: Ask HN: My team mate took credit for my work. What do I do

#13

Post by slededit »

nuna wrote: post #11
slededit wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Visibility" is one of the major drivers of promotion in every organization. They don't know your good if they can't see it. If there are no mitigating circumstances here, like "actually we worked together but I did most of it". Then it should be a simple matter to talk to the boss and get to the bottom of how it was misattributed. No accusations, no assumptions but a fact finding mission. The goal here is to find ou…

There wasn't collaboration other than plugging it into his code. It was not an oversight it was very clear he claimed to have written it all.You are correct though, partly my fault, why not mention it first myself, why wait for someone else to.

One final suggestion, if when bringing this up you come off as emotional as you do in your original post it won't be effective. Approach it as just a big misunderstanding. There is nothing wrong with ensuring correct attribution to work where its something big (which a library qualifies for).

Re: Ask HN: My team mate took credit for my work. What do I do

#15

Post by ninjaa »

nuna wrote: post #12
georgeam wrote: post #9

Another thing that would be useful is for your version-control systems (git/svn etc) to be able to say precisely who made which changes. That gives you proof of who did which work. Even if your company/org does not use version control, you can use it independently as an individual, and have a complete development history of your own which documents your work. It would be harder for someone to claim your work if you h…

I version control everything, but my boss is not technical so this all seems like magic and you can make something simple a big deal easily.

Don't work under non-technical people who believe in hand-waving.

Even if they are well meaning and fair, eventually they will hit a comprehension limit. At that point arbitration for any technical debate should be escalated to a board of suitably qualified people, but they will be unwilling or literally unable to do it. Eventually as a consequence bad technical decisions will be made.

That's the best case scenario. In the worst case scenario you're already undergoing, your boss has no clue who's the better dev or why in your team.

Re: Ask HN: My team mate took credit for my work. What do I do

#16

Post by staunch »

Chalk this event up to a lesson learned. Now go back to doing great stuff and, from now on, make sure your boss is aware of it.

Also, this is an example of having a bad boss and is one of the reasons technical people generally prefer working for other technical people.

Re: Ask HN: My team mate took credit for my work. What do I do

#17

Post by e19293001 »

ninjaa wrote: post #15
nuna wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I version control everything, but my boss is not technical so this all seems like magic and you can make something simple a big deal easily.

Don't work under non-technical people who believe in hand-waving. Even if they are well meaning and fair, eventually they will hit a comprehension limit. At that point arbitration for any technical debate should be escalated to a board of suitably qualified people, but they will be unwilling or literally unable to do it. Eventually as a consequence bad technical decisions will be made. That's the best case scenario.…

Sounds like The Parable of the Two Programmers.

http://www.bruceblinn.com/parable.html

Re: Ask HN: My team mate took credit for my work. What do I do

#18

Post by anthonys »

This happens almost everywhere unfortunately.

If you want to 'compete', the way to play the game is to promote yourself as most of the time, no one else is going to. This is obviously what your colleague is up to.

I used to get mad about the same thing happening to me and it happened a lot. After talking to different people about ways to manage it, I decided to come to terms with it because I wasn't that interested in the alternative (self-promotion). Now I take comfort from the fact if they have to take credit for it, they are obviously worried about something that I am not.

Re: Ask HN: My team mate took credit for my work. What do I do

#20

Post by frnkshin »

e19293001 wrote: post #17
ninjaa wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Don't work under non-technical people who believe in hand-waving. Even if they are well meaning and fair, eventually they will hit a comprehension limit. At that point arbitration for any technical debate should be escalated to a board of suitably qualified people, but they will be unwilling or literally unable to do it. Eventually as a consequence bad technical decisions will be made. That's the best case scenario.…

Sounds like The Parable of the Two Programmers. http://www.bruceblinn.com/parable.html

That's a horrible font choice
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