I work with people too smart to fall for the trick, but with proportionately bigger egos.
Lucky you!
“I work with people too smart to fall for the trick, but with proportionately bigger egos.”
Smart people know what has happened. But, the idea you gave them is too good for them not to have. The bigger the ego the more certain they want it to be their idea. Try it. I guarantee it works. I can’t even count the number of problems permanently resolved by this technique.
Better still, they know you’re willing to work for them and not grab the credit. If they’re thinking people they’ll take you along with them. I went from managing Reliabilty Engineering to managing the Engineering department, then to running a corporate wide re-engineering effort and got the money to go with it.