There’s an ancient ritual performed daily in offices everywhere.
It doesn’t require skill, creativity, or even effort – just timing, confidence, and a straight face.
It’s called credit theft.
And if you’ve never seen it before, congratulations – you’re probably the one doing the work.
The Master Thief
The credit thief is a unique species. They hover in the background until the moment you finish your work, then emerge like a magician revealing their masterpiece.
They don’t sweat, they don’t brainstorm, and they definitely don’t contribute. But when the curtain rises, there they are – smiling in front of the PowerPoint you made, presenting the report you wrote, explaining the strategy you designed, all while saying “we”, most of the time it is just “I and someone they are pleasing, comprising we”
Ah, yes, the royal “we.”
That tiny pronoun that turns your effort into their empire.
They’re bold enough to steal your work, and the universe – or at least the management – rewards them with applause.
The Clapping Committee
Every great thief needs an audience. And that’s where the yes-men come in.
They’re the corporate backup singers, harmonizing in fake enthusiasm. They nod vigorously in meetings, laugh at unfunny jokes, and applaud like trained seals (the sea animal, not the marines) every time the thief opens their mouth.
They never question. They never object. They just clap.
You can see them after every presentation – “Amazing work, boss!”
The boss, of course, is the person who just presented someone else’s work word for word.
They’ll post about “leadership excellence” on social media and on stage, throw in a quote about teamwork, and then go back to their cubicles to silently resent the very person they praised.
But when it matters – when someone needs to speak the truth – their courage magically evaporates.
The Silent Witnesses
Then there’s the rest – the silent crowd. They know who did the real work. They’ve seen the midnight calls, the drafts, the reworks, the emails, the actions.
But they stay quiet. Because silence is safer (at least that is the perception).
They’ve seen what happens to people who speak up – they get labelled “difficult,” “not a team player,” or the classic: “too emotional.”
So, they stay quiet.
And their silence becomes applause.
The Performance
The thief knows the game:
If you act confident enough, people stop questioning you.
If you talk long enough, people stop listening carefully.
And if you present loudly enough, people forget who actually did it.
It’s a performance. The PowerPoint is your stage, the yes-men your audience, and the applause – your undeserved standing ovation.
Meanwhile, the person who actually did the work sits in the back, watching the circus unfold, realizing that in corporate life, justice isn’t blind – it’s on mute.
The Real Shame
The real shame isn’t that credit theft happens. It’s that everyone lets it.
The thief steals, the yes-men clap, and the honest worker gets told to “be mature about it.”
It’s a loop of mediocrity – where noise wins over substance, and loyalty to hierarchy trumps loyalty to truth (more like nationalism over patriotism).
No wonder innovation dies in meeting rooms. The oxygen is used up by the applause.
The Aftermath
The thief walks away with recognition, awards, and inflated self-worth.
The yes-men get safety and approval (albeit temporary).
And the real contributors? They get experience – and a quiet, burning reminder of why some of the best people eventually walk away.
But here’s the funny part:
When the real doers finally leave, the magic show collapses.
The same yes-men who once clapped the loudest suddenly start whispering – “Things were better when he was here.”
Too late. The curtain’s down. The performer’s gone. And all that’s left are the echoes of clapping for the wrong person.
The Takeaway
If you’re a credit thief – congratulations you’ve mastered the dark art of corporate invisibility.
If you’re a yes-man, maybe look in the mirror and ask when you traded integrity for comfort.
And if you’re the one who did the real work, keep your head high. You might not get the applause now, but time has a way of showing who was real and who was pretending.
Because in the end, when the clapping stops and the noise fades, all that remains is the truth – and it never needs a PowerPoint.
This describes a cycle many have experienced firsthand, the thief steals, the yes-men clap and the real worker stays silent because the truth often comes with consequences. But as rightly said when the doers finally walk away the applause stops and the illusion collapses. Very accurate, very real.
Your piece is strong and very relatable. The metaphors work well, and the message about people taking credit in corporate settings comes through clearly. It’s engaging and makes the reader think. You could make it even better by tightening a few parts, since some ideas repeat and a couple of lines feel a bit too dramatic. Overall, it’s a well-written and impactful piece.
This article is a great reflection of the current state of corporate affairs. Your analysis is both nuanced and accurate.
This article is a great reflection of the current state of corporate affairs.
Well written. I think another aspect to the credit takers is the fact that they’re actually quite incompetent and the entire show is just a facade to hide that incompetence. It’s about climbing that ladder as soon as possible even if you’ve got to bury that stilleto deep in someone’s back.
The real recipe for disaster is when the credit taker has equally incompetent superiors above.
I sometimes wonder if that’s even a South Asian trait, because it’s quite common there. 😂😂