Credit and Blame Archives - Page 2 of 3

Brag!

In 2003 Warner Books published Brag! The Art of Tooting Your Own Horn Without Blowing It, by Peggy Klaus. Klaus is a communication and leadership coach who works with Fortune 500 companies.

A summary of the book describes its target as a “venerable performance myth”: “A job well done speaks for itself.” Those who believe it, the summary warns, will find that others “will never know” what they can do. According to Publishers Weekly, Klaus teaches readers to keep a “bragalogue.” This is a short story about their own achievements that they update regularly.

Screenplay By

A Hollywood screenplay often passes through many writers. The screen credit names only a few. Under the rules of the Writers Guild of America, a screenplay credit “is normally shared by no more than two writers.” On an original screenplay, the first writer receives credit if his or her contribution is more than 33 percent of the final shooting script. A later writer who is not a production executive must contribute 50 percent.

When writers dispute a credit, three Guild members with no interest in the outcome decide. Credit affects a writer’s reputation, pay, residuals and future work.

For The Flintstones (1994), thirty-two writers took part in round-table sessions. The final writing credit named three people.

The Winning Pitcher

In Major League Baseball, the official scorer credits one pitcher with the win and one with the loss. Rule 9.17 gives the win to “that pitcher whose team assumes a lead” while he is pitching, with some exceptions. A starting pitcher usually has to complete five innings to get it. The loss goes to the pitcher who is “responsible for the run that gives the winning team a lead.”

Rule 9.12 does the same for mistakes in the field. An error is “a statistic charged against a fielder” whose misplay helped the other team.

The win is a famous number and a disputed one. In 2020 Matt Snyder of CBS Sports called it the “dumbest stat in all of sports.” In one game he described, a relief pitcher who recorded one out got the win. The starter threw four scoreless innings and did not get it.

The Save

In baseball, a save is credited to the pitcher who finishes a game for the winning team under certain conditions, for example with a lead of three runs or fewer. The sportswriter Jerome Holtzman lobbied for the statistic in 1959. It became official in 1969, the first new official statistic since 1920.

The save created a role, the closer, a pitcher who comes in to finish games. The writer Bradford Doolittle called it “the only example in sports of a statistic creating a job.”

Under the Bus

Thrown under the bus. Merriam-Webster defines it as “to criticize, blame, or punish (someone in a vulnerable position) especially in order to avoid blame or gain an advantage.” It became enormously popular during the 2008 presidential campaign, when the linguist Geoff Nunberg, on NPR, counted it in more than 400 campaign stories in six months.

Got your six. Service members say it to tell each other that their rear is covered. Picture an analog clock with you at the center, facing 12. Six is directly behind you.

Whose work it is

That’s Mike’s project. She owns the redesign. He built that. Her numbers. American workplace speech attaches work to a named person as a matter of routine, in praise and in criticism alike. The attribution is automatic, and it runs both ways.

Employee of the month

An American workplace institution with a photograph on the wall, a parking space, a plaque and a public announcement. Nothing about it is private. The recognition is designed to be seen by everyone who was not chosen.

Resumé

A persuasive curriculum vitae (resumé) in the American context stresses achievements, awards and areas of special competence. It is not an official document produced by a neutral party such as a government agency or an educational institution, but rather a testament to how what was learned has been applied in the real world.

Resumés in the U.S. are in a way (self-)marketing documents. Americans highlight not only their subject area expertise, but also their character strengths, such as persistence, discipline, teamwork and, of course, leadership. Every American reader of an American resumé knows that they are carefully written subjective statements aimed at a specific effect.

Face-time

Face-time is an informal term Americans use to describe direct communication between team member team lead. Some team members focus on their work and are less concerned with their level of personal interaction with management.

Others believe – and some evidence supports – that the more often they are seen by their management, the more favorable the perception is of their work.

Because Americans continue to link success with „hard work“, defining it in terms of hours spent in the office – starting early, ending late, coming in on the weekends, instead of work results and their impact on the bottom line – getting face-time remains common.

… of the Month

Americans value public recognition. To be recognized in the presence of peers, customers, friends, family brings real satisfaction. And it takes place on a daily basis in the U.S.

In schools, at the worksplace, in sports, politics and business. Americans track the ups, the downs, who’s winning, who’s losing. The more quantifiable, the better. Statistics. Rankings. Percentages.

It can be comical. It can be inflationary. In some cases, it has become a bit absurd. But it speaks to both the importance and the form of feedback in American society. Americans are motivated by recognition, given in public.

Acknowledgement: recognition or favorable notice of an act or achievement.