There is nothing more intellectually insulting than passing off someone else’s work as your own, it frays the very fabric of science. Attribution is fundamental to any profession – for exactly the reason you state above – but even more alarming is that ‘stealing’ the ideas of others undermines progress. Think of it this way…when someone passes themselves off as the expert and they con people into seeing them as responsible for a theory or practice that arose elsewhere…then that theory or practice is now damned and the field loses fidelity (understanding of who ‘owns’ it and from where it came). Yes the original ‘thought-leader’ may be pushing forward with his or her science, but the impostor is simultaneously corrupting or abusing the branch of theory & science…and the community may not be certain which to believe.

So keep on name-dropping…I will take over-attribution over omission any day of the year…

Brian

As someone who both speaks often and is in the audience as well, I also “drop names”… though I try to do it not with any false sense of familiarity. In other words, I don’t speak in terms of, “well, the other day when Bill Gates and I were having coffee…”. Though I will say something, such as, “when Jane Bozarth was presenting at our meeting a while back”, because that indeed happened.

I say, go for it… tone and temperament matter, and you can’t control how other people will interpret the message. Deliver it with pure intent and let the chips fall where they may.

In fact, when I talk about “name dropping” and the concerns around it, I’ll mention your blog as a source.

When someone tweets a #ff or notes “some great insights from @ about “, it exposes me to a wider and deeper range of professionals. Or, with more traditional media, it points me to great research and resources in print.

It’s the right thing to do-not just for giving credit-but sharing valuable resources.