Watercooler

GETTING AHEAD AT WORK: It can take more than business accomplishments to get you a prominent appointment in the corporate world.

COMEBACKS: Wish you had just the right quick-witted response for that snarky colleague? When put on the spot or cornered in conversation at work, it's important to choose a relevant comeback, and quickly, says Kathleen Kelley Reardon, a professor of management at the Marshall School of Business at University of Southern California and author of the upcoming book "Comebacks at Work." "Words are so easily used against us, and every conversation has choice points that people need to teach themselves to attend to," Reardon said.