Workplace, but not really griping

In My Humble Opinion
1

I can remember hearing business advice in the past that when you want to float a new idea at a staff meeting, you should first run it by a coworker or two. The idea is to have them poke some holes in it and get those fixed before you present it to the boss around the conference table, and also to know that you have a few supporters of your idea in the meeting.

Anyway, I did this. I have an idea for updating an outdated procedure and the coworker thought it sounded great. Fast forward to the meeting where I start to explain my idea and she interrupts with “what moejoe is trying to say…” uses the word “we” a lot, and basically takes over the whole presentation but doesn’t explain it well at all.

I did regain the floor and continue my pitch and it went well. I’ve been invited to write up the proposal and move forward with the change so it all ended well. What I’m wondering now is if I should mention the issue to the coworker or just avoid sharing ideas with her in the future. She’s in her early 20s, so while maybe she should know better by now she’s also pretty new to work/meeting etiquette. It’s a small team and she seemed like a good choice for brainstorming, but I’ve only been here a year so I’m still not sure if she’s a snake or just clueless.

So…speak up or learn from my mistake?

2

If it were me, I’d let it go. And not bounce ideas off her anymore.

3

Learn from your mistake and don’t say anything if the other worker didn’t contribute much. Try to look at it from her point of view, perhaps she invested time thinking of ways to poke holes or improve on your idea. I’m not saying she did or did not but there could be another side to the story. When people bounce ideas off of me that I find interesting I find myself thinking of issues, improvements or resolutions. Since I do this as a form of mental relaxation I don’t ask for credit.
Hopefully in your small group you can find out who to bounce ideas off of.