VIR-III-0054
“My boss credited me for a junior's idea, and I corrected him on the spot.”
The praise was being handed to you for something you didn't think of, and silence would have kept it. You corrected it in the moment — 'that was her idea' — handing back what wasn't yours to keep. Doing right in the dark includes the half-second where a lie of omission would have paid. You gave the credit to the person who earned it, and lost nothing that was real.
Your Practice
- Notice you corrected it instantly, before the false credit could set.
- Name the real author plainly, to the person who matters most.
- Tell her directly that you set the record straight. Let her know you saw it.
- Make returning misplaced credit a reflex, not a debate with yourself.
The Architects
“He often acts unjustly who does not do a certain thing; not only he who does a certain thing.”
— Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, Book IX (George Long translation)