[godelski]

I also think a lot of praise should generally be a team thing too (but I also love this: "You can praise individuals, but you take blame as a team.")

When discussing success to an outside group (giving a presentation or something) or higher up (especially here!) you always use "we". Even if it is a section that only you worked on or you did most of the work. You can often pick out good managers by just seeing if they talk like this, if their focus is around what they individually did or what their team accomplished.

My point is, it is rarely a single individual's success when things work.

[nitrogen]

I also really like it when managers mention significant individuals (as suggested by the phrasing that started this thread), as long as everyone on the team is getting mention-worthy projects. Both group and individual recognition, as long as it's fairly used.

[godelski]

Yes, exactly. I don't want to downplay the importance of praising individuals, but at the same time I don't want it to shadow praising teams.

There's a balance and I do think we tend to focus on the individual as a society. We can only climb mountains by standing on the shoulders of giants. One person gets to the peak and we should praise them for that, but we shouldn't ignore their foundation either (which I think currently happens). E.G. Kepler was an essential part of science and needs to be recognized, but if it wasn't for the work that Tycho Brahe did, Kepler's achievements couldn't exist. The "single person" mentality ignores the importance of the foundational work that needed to be done and frequently causes many to feel that they are not achieving simply because they are working in these roles, which are essential.

[cvik]

I agree with everything you say.