My idea was stolen by another team and I don't know what to do about it - Say something or let it go?

Anonymous

February 3,2023 at 3:17PM UTC

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My idea was stolen by another team and I don't know what to do about it - Say something or let it go?

My team is collaborating with another team outside of our business unit and things are not going well. This particular team (the marketing group), has a toxic culture. In contrast, my group, the tech group, has a pretty healthy culture. We collaborate heavily, share ideas, and are very open/flat in how we work. The marketing group is very hierarchical. They don't allow the individual contributors the ability to make decisions - it all has to go through their boss. They are not trustworthy or collaborative.

Back in the fall of 2022 when we started on this creative project, I presented some concepts that were kind of high level, but meant to facilitate thinking and exploration as we worked towards creating visuals for an app. When I presented my ideas, the marketing group basically gave me a "non response." They didn't take any of my ideas further into the conversation so I thought they fell on deaf ears. I let it go at the time. We moved on, and eventually let the marketing people do what they wanted because it was clear that they wanted to control this situation. It turns out they are flailing as they aren't as creative as our group, and I mean that objectively. They are not good at brainstorming ideas because they live within tightly dictated rules around our brand and do not know how to translate a brand into the digital space (they are well versed in print and commercials but not knowledgeable about crafting digital experiences).

Fast forward three months and in a meeting, the director of the marketing group said, "I have an idea and we're working some concepts using this idea." Guess what -- that idea was the same one I presented to the team last year. And then in a subsequent meeting, the director's minions reiterated that the idea was hers.

For a creative person whose ideas are her currency, this is infuriating. I didn't speak up in the meeting for fear of seeming petty and unprofessional. But it is eating away at me because this group isn't to be trusted. They take our ideas and claim them as their own (the situation I'm describing is not the first time this has happened. It has happened to my colleagues in the past).

My leaders know how frustrated I am with this situation. They know that marketing presents ongoing problems when their toxicity bumps up against our team and our projects. But they have failed to do anything about it, other than play the political game so avoid fighting with them, as we are mandated from senior leadership to collaborate with them.

Being political is not my strong suit so I am asking the ladies here to share their ideas on: 1. Should I figure out a way to bring it up, and if so, what to say; 2. Should I let it go, because it's just not worth it?

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RosemaryFebruary 3,2023 at 6:21PM UTC
It sounds like the marketing team is led by a micromanager. I can relate. My team is similarly siloed, non-collaborative and boss-obsessed.
Sucks that you have to do this but document all your ideas and when they were shared with whom. Keep a recording of the video meetings and an email trail. Find a benign reason to copy someone on the emails.
For this situation, I would call out the marketing leader. Maybe on Teams or a call to catch them off guard. Approach it as a curiosity rather than an accusation and give them a way to save face and do the right thing.
Be unflappable.
This person’s team is probably dying for someone to stand up to him/her.
Good luck!
Cindy GrossFebruary 3,2023 at 6:37PM UTC
Here are some tools you can use - they don't all work all of the time but it's good to practice them for when they will work.
1. When you present ideas follow up with a very brief overview of the ideas in an email (or Slack channel or whatever equivalent your org prefers). Keep it high level - too many details and they will claim their idea is too different to be stolen.
2. In the moment say something like "I'm so glad to hear you decided to go with that idea I presented to your team last fall - I really believe it's a good strategy."
3. Later on follow up with the person who stole the idea (they may or may not have done so on purpose) and your own manager to discuss how to collaborate so you share ownership and credit.
#BefriendingDragons
AnonymousFebruary 4,2023 at 7:14PM UTC
Really great suggestions, ladies! Thank you. I plan to use a couple pf these tactics.
GirlBossanova934974February 8,2023 at 2:15PM UTC
You have just learned a very valuable lesson and at a fairly inexpensive price. Your idea was somewhat high level and will have to be refined and fine tuned. American business culture has a bad habit of preaching "team culture" but has a bad tendency to reward the NON TEAM players. Stealing someone's ideas or pirating other people's intellectual property is one of surest signs of the NON TEAM player. The solution? DOCUMENT your ideas going forward to your own management team and make people at the top aware of your ideas, accomplishments, etc etc. Therefore when these sorts of conflicts come up, a simple email to the management team will suffice ........I myself have worked for a few managers in the past who flat out stole my ideas, claimed credit for them, and pretended like I had nothing to do with them. I had even implemented those ideas and the cash was coming in. Those ideas made the companies in questions, tens of millions of dollars. Now that is quite expensive.
AnonymousFebruary 8,2023 at 6:14PM UTC
I would document what you presented a year ago. Speak to someone in your People/HR team about the situation. Let them know that while you are grateful for the vision being put into play for the betterment of the whole company, you would like to have some acknowledgement of the idea being born through you. Let them know that there is no I in team but your reward should be some sort of shout out or bonus tied to the inception of it. Make sure you have documentation of this throughout the conversations. You don't say what you hope to get from this but perhaps a less public shaming and a much more forthright shining of what you did to get the ball rolling will show the thief how true collaboration works. If you are not supported through this perhaps it's time to look for a new company?