Credit becomes credibility
With a tight deadline looming a colleague and I worked on a high dependency task and got it done on time. Someone else then sent the email to inform everyone else and implicitly claim the credit. My colleague said it didn’t matter who gets the credit, getting the work done is what matters. And if it was an isolated project with no future then I’d agree, but in corporate life credit becomes credibility. Getting things done creates a reputation for getting things done. And the reputation that a person and/or team carries within an organisation greatly affects who wants to work with the person, and how they work with them, so it in turn affects the success of the team. Credit isn’t about ego, it’s corporate currency that should be earned, invested in, and spent appropriately for the greater good of the team.