Totally fair, I’ve been trying to use less absolutes when I communicate. A designer/proprietor/entrepreneur type of individual could likely take more credit for a product’s success rather than a designer who is part of a large corporate team that includes PM’s, marketers, engineers, etc.
However, in regards to the case of a corporate designer who identifies a gap in a product line and takes initiative to do some exploratory design and research, and then puts forth a proposal outside of normal channels, and gets it greenlit as a company initiative that results in a successful product, what then? Should that designer take more credit? Doing this can be challenging politically, and that’s why I think it takes guts.