I experimented with an Artificial Intelligence (AI) app to see what it would produce with a few keywords. I chose this topic because of the increased sightings of these characters on all my social media platforms and I’m considering the impact they have on others in their communities, including me. Before weighing in, I wanted to see what AI knows about these characters in the workplace. The follow up piece to this one will focus on specific communities where these toxic practitioners feed their need for self-importance and competitive advantage without crediting the knowledge holders and the authors of their poached stories.
For now, I present the AI product from writesonic.com.
Knowledge theft is a constant risk for knowledge workers and creators. In the digital age, it’s easier than ever for employees to steal your company’s intellectual property. However, you don’t have to let that happen. If an employee takes your company’s intellectual property without your permission, it’s called intellectual property theft, or also known as “ideas poaching.” An employee who does this might be attempting to use the idea for their own personal benefit without giving you credit or bothered by their restrictive employment contract and trying to get around it. Someone who poaches ideas frequently is referred to as a knowledge vampire: someone who feeds off of other people’s knowledge in order to advance their own interests and career at the expense of others. These are some of the warning signs that you have an ideas poacher employed—or perhaps even working directly above—you right now.
They’re constantly taking notes.
If an employee is constantly taking notes during one-on-one meetings, during team meetings, or is taking notes during training sessions, there’s a good chance that they’re doing so because they’re trying to get as much information as possible to take back to their desk and use later. There are plenty of legitimate reasons why someone would take notes.
However, if they’re always taking notes whenever you’re meeting with them, they’re likely trying to copy the words that you say in order to implement or use them later.
They ask a lot of questions.
If someone is constantly asking you questions—especially if they’re questions that you’ve already answered for them—there’s a chance that they’re doing so in order to get information to which they’re not entitled so that they can use it for their own gain. There are, of course, plenty of legitimate reasons why someone would ask you questions, so don’t jump to conclusions if you notice that someone on your team is constantly asking questions. However, if someone is constantly asking questions that you’ve answered for them in the past, there’s a chance that they’re doing so in order to get information to which they’re not entitled.
They’re always talking about “new ideas” and “innovation.”
If an employee is always talking about “new ideas” and “innovation,” they’re likely doing so in order to get you excited about their ideas so that you’ll let them implement them and take the credit. If someone starts talking a lot about “new ideas” and “innovation,” you should ask them what their “new ideas” and “innovation” actually are so that you can see if they’re worth implementing. If their “new ideas” and “innovation” are low quality, you should ask them to stop talking about it in the office so that they don’t falsely get you excited about their uninspired ideas.
They ask you to review their personal projects.
If an employee asks you to review their personal projects—especially if they’re expecting you to give them feedback and constructive criticism—there’s a chance that they’re trying to get you to give them positive feedback that they can use to get their own projects funded. If they’re asking you to review their personal projects, you should be upfront and honest with them by saying something along the lines of: “I’m sorry, but I can’t give you any feedback. It’s against company policy for me to review your personal projects at work.” If they keep asking, you should report them to your superiors and HR because they’re likely trying to get you to break company policy and violate your employment contract by giving them positive feedback that they can use to get their own personal projects funded.
They constantly drop the names of people they know.
If an employee constantly drops the names of people that they know—especially people in charge of projects and initiatives that they’re not directly involved in—there’s a chance that they’re doing so in order to get their own work prioritized above other tasks that they probably should be working on instead. If someone always drops the names of people that they know, you should ask them what exactly they did to get their work noticed by those people. If their work is just as uninspired as the rest of their portfolio, you should ask them to stop dropping the names of the people they know so that they don’t falsely get their work prioritized above other tasks. If their work is actually high quality, you should ask them to keep dropping the names of the people that they know so that their work gets the recognition that it deserves.
The end.
What do you think about the content?
Check out the original piece on knowledge vampires to refresh your memory or discover the ways covert narcissism cloaks itself in collaborators, peers and colleagues.
Thanks to Joan Ball for sharing her piece on navigating change for transitioning jobseekers written by Writesonic AI on her Substack for piquing my interest in checking it out.
Thanks for reading, supporting and sharing,
Nathalie Martinek, PhD
The Narcissism Hacker