People who steal ideas from creative workers prefer to do so in earlier conceptual stages than creators expect, according to new Cornell research.

“A dilemma inherent to creative work is that sharing it is the best way to get feedback to develop an idea. But, by sharing, you open the door to potential theft,” said Brian Lucas, associate professor of organizational behavior in the ILR School. 

He is co-author of “Before the Ink Dries? Creators Misjudge Idea Thieves’ Preference for Early-stage Ideas,” published Oct. 29 by Social and Personality Psychology Compass.

Lucas and lead author Lillien Ellis ’14, Ph.D. ’21, assistant professor at the University of Virginia Darden School of Business, tested multiple hypotheses across three studies surveying 965 adults. Participants who were assigned the creator role believed thieves were more likely to steal ideas in the final phases of development. Those assigned a thief role, though, said they would be more apt to grab ideas at earlier stages than creators expected. 

This mistaken assumption leads creators to open their fresh ideas to feedback at an especially vulnerable time. Many of the thieves saw early stage theft as less morally harmful than later-stage theft. 

“Although some idea thieves may have unethical intentions, our findings suggest that idea thieves – just like anybody else – do not want to think of themselves as bad people,” Lucas said. “Stealing an early stage idea can be justified more easily as borrowing or taking inspiration. There’s moral wiggle room in those early stages and idea thieves consider this more than creators expect.” In fact, Ellis authored one of the seminal psychological investigations of idea theft in organizational behavior research.

“The psychology of idea theft is a new topic we don’t know a whole lot about,“ said Lucas, who hopes the findings might motivate future research and help people think through how they share and protect new ideas in the workplace.

Other studies have found that nearly 80% of subordinates say bosses have stolen their ideas, and a third of employees polled report having had ideas stolen by co-workers.

Although the study doesn’t offer specific recommendations for creators, simply being aware of idea thieves’ preferences is a start. Creators might want to apply the findings to their sharing strategies by tightening the circle with whom they share their earliest-stage ideas to a trusted few.

Mary Catt is director of communications for the ILR School.