Plato's Republic: The Principle of Specialization

Plato argued that for society to work in harmony, people should do what they are best at so that the entire society can accomplish more. The St-Louis Rams players were arguably the best at their position. None of them wanted to do the job of one another, they showed up to work, did their thing, may have even wanted the ball more but never asked for it. Why? Because calling the plays was the coach's job, the players wanted to execute them.

Whose Team Are You On Anyways?

There are not too many waterboys in your class or your group. Rather, you will have aspiring Kurt Warner's waiting to toss the ball on Super Bowl Sunday. The concept of team player will come up, so be careful about how it is used against you.

Yes, yes, it is good to be fair, humble and modest and put others ahead of yourself. But others will place themselves ahead of you as well, so someone may as well think of you, and that may as well be you! Huh? Read on.

Next time someone questions your commitment to the team, ask them which team they are referring to. For one, if they do not like that you are excelling and helping the team, it may be that they crave the spotlight. This does not make them a team player, so they should not be able to question your commitment.

A Necessary Evil

Group projects are a necessary evil, perhaps the single sharpest double-edged sword in business school. Business is all about team play, competition, planning and execution. What better way to teach this than lump students into groups?

The End Goal

Class projects usually consist of a paper and a presentation. This is consistent with the business world where a formal recommendation, proposal or pitch may be submitted as well. Depending on how many people are responsible for the verdict (as in, will all students grade your work or only the professor?), each component plays a role. Students make their decision based on the oral presentation while the professor relies on the paper as well. Hence why both are important.

In school, while only the professor will read the paper, students see the presentation. While a professor can have a short-term impact on your career, it is some of your fellow students who will play a greater role down the road.

Some professors make up their mind about the paper as a result of the presentation. To what extent this is true remains a function of the particular professor, but you can imagine why presentations exist in the first place in school: call it Cliffs Notes for Professors who do not wish to read a bunch of papers.

Celebrate

Whether you end up just passing or acing the project, there needs to be downtime afterwards. If for nothing else, you want to revert back from a stressful relationship to one that is cordial. After all, you never know whether members of the group will resurface as group mates, classmates (some of whom may eventually grade you), colleagues and even bosses. Head out to the school or local bar for a drink or two. This is just another example of balancing business with pleasure.