How to deal with coworker that is overly confident yet wrong

Question

One of my coworkers is the first to tell the higher-ups that a problem is easy and hardly knows what he is doing sometimes. He takes credit for others work. He is leading the team down the wrong direction. How do I handle this situation without sounding like a naysayer and without being an asshole.

Answer 1

“First, let me echo my colleague’s enthusiasm about this project. Now, there are some finer points I’d like to discuss in more depth.”