FC NOW: The Fast Company Weblog
August 31, 2005
Intellectual Property
Type in "stole my idea" or "taking credit for my work" into a search engine and you'll get thousands of hits. Clerks at retail chains, programmers, bloggers, middle managers, VPs at major corporations... folks from every line of work get ripped off. Just swing by one of the online work message boards -- sites like iworkwithfools.com, toxicboss.com, and fthisjob.com. People get mad -- and rightly so. Who was the last person to steal one of your ideas? Coworker? Manager? Underling?
Whether it's just a bright idea you brought up at the watercooler or an important proposal you hammered out overnight for your boss, the feeling of being cheated is the same: burning injustice and spite. Stealing ideas and work hurts morale and puts kinks in the chain of command. Managers and their employees both suffer. Everyone's got war stories. What's yours?
Posted by Lucas Conley at August 31, 2005 10:55 AM | Category: |
7 Comments
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Contrary to popular image, ideas by themselves have almost no value.
Lots of people think someone "stole" their idea, when it is just as likely that someone else came up with the same idea at the same time.
Ideas only have value when someone can figure out a way to make them work.
I saw this all the time when I was in investment banking: ten startups all working on exactly the same idea, each blissfully unaware of the others. See, for example, my article The Cult of the NDA, and a more recent one about a Stealth Mode Startup.
Couldn't agree with Shivering more!
Ideas are dime a dozen. People who can turn an idea into action or revenue? Rare indeed.
And those who whine about stolen ideas? Grow up! Learn how to communicate so your idea gets adopted and if you need credit for it? Well, you're probably gonna be miserable most of the time anyway and somebody stealing your golden idea is the least of your worries!
Nobody has stolen any of my ideas that I'm aware of but I am considering filing a patent lawsuit against Apple over their Ipod technology -- everyone else is! :-)
How can one protect intellectual property in a workplace that is highly competitive and everybody is trying to get to the top at someone elses expense? The answer sounds simple, keep your mouth shut! Unfortunatly, that is easer said than done. I don't have this problem to much at work, but when I do, it is important to estabish a date of creation, even if you never plan to do anything with an idea, it is yours. First, check to see if there are other ideas like yours out on the market. A lot of people think that someone is "stealing" there ideas, when in reality, your idea may already be on the market. Once you have estabished an idea, write it down, date it and send it to yourself in an e-mail. Even keeping your mouth shut is no guarantee, thoughts manifest themselves in actions and employers watch your behavior. Someone may accidently "duplicate" your idea just by watching your behavior. So if you've got it, don't flaunt it! Write it down!
Maybe when a boss steals your idea it's actually good news. It means that your idea gets implemented. It means you are helping your boss succeed. It means that on some level your boss looks to you for his or her success. It means that your ideas get traction. Of course, it's better to give credit where credit is due, but what's important here? It's good to have pride in your accomplishments, but take care that the pride doesn't overwhelm the accomplishment.
Ideas get stolen all the time. It's called Standing on The Shoulders of Giants. The trick is not to complain and sit there with your mouth shutt. Ge some back bone and become a driver of your idea. Study up and learn what it will take to make your idea successful. Become a hub of information, a go-to person, an expert on the matter. Then associates will have no choice but to include you. But remember, if you work for a company...it's a team game! If you sit around spout about some decent ideas but do nothing about it, well you are asking for someone to take it. I think many people are much more content with the low risk idea side of business than the higher risk, action side of business.
The last person to steal my, admittedly, brilliant idea was the same guy, according to him, who invented the telephone, the lightbulb, and the internal combustion engine.
Though Shivers point sounds reasonable, I have discovered that creativity, vision and passion don't always come packaged with power, authority, control, and ruthlessness.
Quelle dommage.