NOT The Very Model of Attribution
|
|
I came across an interesting feature of search engines and third party aggregators. While looking for new reviews of Leading from the Middle, I ran into a link.
That link pointed me to a 2007 Harvard Business Review case study "The Very Model of a Modern Senior Manager" on leader competencies by Mike Morrison, Reuben Mark, Rebecca Ray, George Manderlink, and Dave Ulrich. Their title sounded similar to my 2005 column," I Am the Very Model of a Modern Middle Manager".
Now, anyone is entitled to a little literary license in adopting a Gilbert and Sullivan piece for an eye catching title. In my case I borrowed with attribution from The Pirates of Penzance: "I am the very model of a modern major general." Hear and see it here.
Adding to my curiousity was another similarity between my 2005 work with the 2007 HBR case study. You see, the HBR case study is about leadership qualities (they say competencies) which is pretty much what my 2005 article was about.
So, I took a look at the online version of the HBR article. There is no attribution to Gilbert & Sullivan nor to my 2005 article. It is the aggregator that links my leadership qualities idea to the HBR case study. I make sure to acknowledge any use I make of someone else's ideas. I have seen some free borrowing of my ideas from time to time without attribution (one popular blog was especially egregious) but I think a third party's linking the two articles is quite remarkable.
Indeed, sloppy scholarship has something more to worry about!
That link pointed me to a 2007 Harvard Business Review case study "The Very Model of a Modern Senior Manager" on leader competencies by Mike Morrison, Reuben Mark, Rebecca Ray, George Manderlink, and Dave Ulrich. Their title sounded similar to my 2005 column," I Am the Very Model of a Modern Middle Manager".
Now, anyone is entitled to a little literary license in adopting a Gilbert and Sullivan piece for an eye catching title. In my case I borrowed with attribution from The Pirates of Penzance: "I am the very model of a modern major general." Hear and see it here.
Adding to my curiousity was another similarity between my 2005 work with the 2007 HBR case study. You see, the HBR case study is about leadership qualities (they say competencies) which is pretty much what my 2005 article was about.
So, I took a look at the online version of the HBR article. There is no attribution to Gilbert & Sullivan nor to my 2005 article. It is the aggregator that links my leadership qualities idea to the HBR case study. I make sure to acknowledge any use I make of someone else's ideas. I have seen some free borrowing of my ideas from time to time without attribution (one popular blog was especially egregious) but I think a third party's linking the two articles is quite remarkable.
Indeed, sloppy scholarship has something more to worry about!
John Lubans - portrait by WSJ