Stealing someone’s idea in a meeting might get you noticed. It also gets you remembered.

Credit is small and memory is long. Repeating someone else’s point as your own might land you the nod in the room, and the person you took it from registers it permanently, as does anyone who heard them say it first. You gain a moment of standing and lose the ability to be believed the next time you have something of your own.

Name the source out loud, in the room, while it still costs you something: say whose idea you are building on. It takes four words. Watch how quickly people start bringing their good thoughts to you.