cookie licking

noun

anti-pattern in voluntary communities where someone takes responsability for a task, does nothing about it and then puts it back up for grabs

The act of claiming a project or idea for oneself, discouraging others from working on it, but then never finishing it.
“Suppose there is a list of items to be done, say, tasks or projects or topics for investigation. Somebody signals interest in a particular project, thereby making it unavailable for others to work on. If the person never actually starts working on the project, then that person is accused of engaging in cookie licking.”
“Allow people to act out in those ways, and you're guaranteeing that more counterproductive cookie-licking ways will emerge as you promote talent through the ranks. Left unchecked, advanced cookie-licking could include the following organizational poison: […]”