“It is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit.” – Harry S. Truman

David Allen’s Getting Things Done series of time management tips require writing everything down and getting the ideas out of your head. This way, your mind will be less cluttered, and you’ll be able to focus better. However, in some cases, you might be able to get more done if you know how to designate tasks and pass up on getting the credit for everything.

Sometimes Knowing It Was Your Idea is Enough

There are times when you have to sit back and simply be proud of having come up with the idea – not the follow through. If you know that you came up with a great idea that turned into a very successful product or strategy, it doesn’t really matter if you were the person who did the hard work of creating the item from scratch and marketing it, right?

Play to Your Talents

There are great “idea” people and great “follow through” people. You don’t have to be both. For example, you might have come up with the concept, but are unable to draw, so you handed that part of the creation process off to someone else who has that particular talent. In the end, it doesn’t matter that you worked on every aspect of something if it turns out to be a disaster.  The best employees are team players, not those who take all of the credit.

Work Hard and Don’t Expect Accolades

Some people believe that they need fanfare for every little thing, while others understand that hard work has its own rewards. By doing what needs to be done – even the seemingly thankless little tasks – you will eventually get some recognition. It might not come right away, and you’ll have a lot to do before you receive it, but it will happen.