Hey everyone,
I like to think I’m pretty good at what I do. I take pride in my work, I try to be a team player, and I don’t need to be the center of attention. But lately, I’ve been feeling… I don’t know, undermined?
There’s this guy Rick I often work with—we’ll call him “Mark” for the sake of anonymity. Mark is ambitious, and honestly, good at his job. I respect that. But every time I share an idea in a meeting, he jumps in with something “better.” If I accomplish something, he makes a point to talk about how he did something similar—only bigger, faster, or more impressive. If I crack a joke, he immediately has to follow up with something funnier.
At first, I thought maybe I was imagining it. But it’s become so predictable that I find myself dreading meetings or group discussions because I know, no matter what I say or do, Mark is going to find a way to one-up me. I don’t think he’s even aware of it—he comes off as friendly, maybe just a little too eager—but it’s getting under my skin.
I don’t need to be the best in the room, but I don’t like feeling like I have to fight to be heard or that my contributions are constantly overshadowed. Am I being too sensitive here? Is this just how younger professionals operate these days, or is there a way to address this without coming off as insecure?
Would love to hear from anyone who’s dealt with a similar situation.
Oh, you’re worried about being one-upped at work? That’s adorable. Honestly, I’ve just accepted that my coworkers are like my personal competition team. My strategy? I’ve started “one-upping” them on purpose. They mention a new project? Oh, I’m already working on a project that involves a rocket launch and a surprise office dog parade. They bring in homemade cookies? I bring in cookies, a cake, and a full smoothie bar.
At this point, I’m just waiting for them to show up in a cape and save the company from a fictional disaster while I casually save the microwave from exploding with my “superior” snack reheating skills.
My advice? Next time they try to one-up you, respond with something completely ridiculous—like, “Oh, you think that’s impressive? I’ve already solved world peace and invented a new color.” Let them try to top that.
Ah yes, the fine art of strategic one-upping. Truly, you are operating on a 4D chess level while the rest of us are still playing checkers.
Honestly, I respect it. If you’re going to get caught in the never-ending workplace flex battle, you might as well go all in. I fully expect your next move to involve casually mentioning that you’ve discovered time travel but are too humble to use it for anything other than fixing your lunch break.
Meanwhile, I’ll be over here, heroically preventing the office coffee machine from self-destructing—because we all have our own ways of saving the company.
I have a co-worker that is WAY worse at one-upping