It’s better to arrive at a meaningless conclusion on a trivial subject via long, stubborn debate
Group work is a staple of an MBA’s life. Conference rooms designated as “group study rooms” are often booked weeks in advance from 7 in the morning until 12 at night. The rules for qualifying as a “group” are posted in and outside of each room.
- You must arrive within 15 minutes of your meeting’s scheduled start time or else you forfeit the room.
- “Groups” consist of four or more people. Hey! Those guys only have three people in that room! Let’s kick them out! Swarm! Swarm! Swarm!
- Meetings will never end early.
Okay, so that last point isn’t really posted, but that doesn’t mean it’s not true. And the reason it’s true is because groups are likely to debate meaningless points ad infinitum, as the Latin phrase goes. You would think that these people have nothing better to do than to discuss whether they need to include, in a case report about eBay, the fact that Beanie Baby sales were popular among the site’s early users. Yes or no. Mention it or don’t. I don’t care, but I do care that this is a waste of your time, which should be more valuable, and my time, which is more valuable. I like playing on teams well enough, but this is like playing on a basketball team where no one will shoot the ball. So, if you’re visiting a business school and in the part of the tour where they take you to the “group study room” area, just remember that the future MBAs in those soundproof rooms are not debating high strategy, global politics, economic theory, or even the best way to run a business. They’re arguing about Beanie Babies.
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