Many big tech companies encourage this attitude, because it helps them recruit smart graduates. Taking creditThe first lesson many new engineers learn is that you have to take credit for your work. Even when your manager is watching your work, credit is largely uncorrelated with how well you did. The lesson this kind of engineer hasn’t learned is that you can often accumulate credit best by giving it away. For technical roles, managers assign credit and blame based on lots of quiet conversations with their trusted engineers.