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The Best Article Ever Written About Bragging

lesspenguiny.com

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Re: The Best Article Ever Written About Bragging

#31

Post by saiya-jin »

amelius wrote: post #18
ashelmire wrote: post #12

The unfortunate reality is that if you don’t sing your own praises, you will miss out on opportunities in life. Most people don’t have the time to really pay attention to what you’re doing (bosses, interviewers, dating interests, etc), so you have to make them aware - or you’re just off in the corner being unseen.

Or you have to be so good that nobody can ignore you.

It may work in smaller companies, but in corporations this often ain't true. Marketing beats raw skills easily, since those promoting/increasing salary are usually quite far from technical aspects of daily life.

Re: The Best Article Ever Written About Bragging

#33

Post by brianmcc »

ashelmire wrote: post #12

The unfortunate reality is that if you don’t sing your own praises, you will miss out on opportunities in life. Most people don’t have the time to really pay attention to what you’re doing (bosses, interviewers, dating interests, etc), so you have to make them aware - or you’re just off in the corner being unseen.

Agreed. There's a real art in promoting yourself without resulting in everyone hating you. Not everyone manages that - or even tries to avoid the "annoying one's peers" part.

In business unlike socially it's actually part of the job - or it should be if you want to achieve certain goals: bonus, promotion, peer recognition. Even avoiding layoffs could come down to how well you communicate the good work you're doing.

This does not come naturally to many of us in this sector, but once you are aware of the need for it, there are ways to promote yourself authentically and without being too much of a show-off.

Re: The Best Article Ever Written About Bragging

#34

Post by darkerside »

I enjoyed the article very much, but I question the premise of building a framework around bragging that sets it apart from normal conversation. I preferred the ending where we had the opportunity to understand how the lines between bragging and information sharing break down, and that riding that line can be a positive experience for both parties. I especially loved the end where we realize that our reaction to bragging can offset the impact on ourselves and bring joy to others simultaneously.

Re: The Best Article Ever Written About Bragging

#35

Post by justaguyhere »

baxtr wrote: post #23
ashelmire wrote: post #12

The unfortunate reality is that if you don’t sing your own praises, you will miss out on opportunities in life. Most people don’t have the time to really pay attention to what you’re doing (bosses, interviewers, dating interests, etc), so you have to make them aware - or you’re just off in the corner being unseen.

Of course marketing on your own behalf is helpful, but I’ve found that the most successful people don’t brag about their achievements. Instead, somehow they get other people to talk about their merits within the organization.

Is this before they became successful or after? Once we reach a certain level of success, it gets much easier to get other people to talk about us. But when we are just starting and unknown, who is gonna sing our praises (assuming we are good at something) other than our moms? :P

Re: The Best Article Ever Written About Bragging

#37

Post by refurb »

brianmcc wrote: post #33
ashelmire wrote: post #12

The unfortunate reality is that if you don’t sing your own praises, you will miss out on opportunities in life. Most people don’t have the time to really pay attention to what you’re doing (bosses, interviewers, dating interests, etc), so you have to make them aware - or you’re just off in the corner being unseen.

Agreed. There's a real art in promoting yourself without resulting in everyone hating you. Not everyone manages that - or even tries to avoid the "annoying one's peers" part. In business unlike socially it's actually part of the job - or it should be if you want to achieve certain goals: bonus, promotion, peer recognition. Even avoiding layoffs could come down to how well you communicate the good work you're doing .…

The ideal way to brag is have others do it for you.

Re: The Best Article Ever Written About Bragging

#39

Post by netcan »

baxtr wrote: post #23
ashelmire wrote: post #12

The unfortunate reality is that if you don’t sing your own praises, you will miss out on opportunities in life. Most people don’t have the time to really pay attention to what you’re doing (bosses, interviewers, dating interests, etc), so you have to make them aware - or you’re just off in the corner being unseen.

Of course marketing on your own behalf is helpful, but I’ve found that the most successful people don’t brag about their achievements. Instead, somehow they get other people to talk about their merits within the organization.

This easily gets to a semantic argument.

Bragging is making your achievements known. Bragging poorly is doing this in a way that's too obvious & grating to the listener. If you're accused of bragging, this means you are bragging poorly.

Re: The Best Article Ever Written About Bragging

#40

Post by Vinnl »

brianmcc wrote: post #28

Hi less_penguiny - absolutely loved this article . Brilliant writing. I'm also finding myself thinking a lot about social interactions, especially the dumb nonsense vast swathes of our populations carry out, and being currently in the middle of Desmond Morris "Human Zoo" (brilliant, slightly dated, but you'll love it if you're not familiar) your piece really struck a chord - particularly with "Bragging is personally…

I really enjoyed it as well. I'd also suggest an RSS feed; although it makes it harder to track who reads your articles, I really prefer to not sign up for email updates.

Anyway, keep it up!

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