Question: My colleagues have stolen my idea and presented it as their own.
FACT: You have not projected the idea as your own to the management.
‘I was surprised to learn that my co-worker has received an award for filing a patent. We had discussed this idea sometime ago as a potential solution to a tricky problem, I am surprised he has filed the patent for this on his own as he should have involved me, too,’ said an employee to his manager,
‘Why didn’t you pursue the idea further? You should have formed a wider group or used the mailing list so that people would have known you had originated the idea. Do you have proof?’ asked the manager.
At the workplace, many discussions take place; some of them might give some people an idea which they can pursue to make it realizable. It takes creativity, effort and time to convert an idea into reality. Most of the time, during the process of converting the idea into a working solution, the original idea gets transformed significantly, The person who takes an idea to its logical conclusion is the one who can claim its ownership.
Besides patented ideas, there are multiple other ideas; they fall into various categories, such as, best practice, suggestions; troubleshooting, etc. In these cases, conveying the idea through an e-mail or presenting ‘it in meetings to demonstrate its usage will help in ascertaining the rightful owner and according him the due recognition. Those who remain in the background and have been poor in communicating their achievements might suffer. A manager should provide various platforms and Forums—as well as the right environment—for people to share and present their ideas. And if that takes place, it’s the organization that will benefit, while everyone will also know who originated the idea.
Every organization has its own values. And none of these values regards the stealing of an idea as ethical. This is a matter that has to be dealt with firmly,
WHAT CAN YOU DO AS THE EMPLOYEE? Before blaming others, introspect on what went wrong. In the first place, did you contribute significantly towards the shaping of that idea? If so, you should provide supporting documents and e-mails to the manager to prove your point, But if you. don’t have any of these proofs and you suddenly claim ownership, it might be hard for people to believe you. It might even appear that you are trying to steal the credit. If you have not followed the right approach and process In presenting your claim, then there’s a lesson to be learnt—avoid such mistakes in the future.
In an-active work environment, many ideas will be discussed and there’ll be a lot of casual brainstorming. So, pick and choose your ideas; work on them so that they can be developed into a presentable and applicable shape. The credit will be all yours:
WHAT CAN YOU DO AS THE MANAGER? The credit should go to the right people. You should provide a proper process through which idea generation, development and realization is tracked properly. This will help you in identifying and rewarding the right people. If you are not on top of things and if you don’t have any such process to speak of, then accusations of ideas being stolen will fly thick and fast, and you will have in your hands an ineffective and unproductive team—worse, a team full of mistrust.
