Don’t keep Michael Jordan on the bench

Group assignments can be a challenge for college students. Your grade for the class is now in someone else’s hands, and most people do not react well when they feel that they have lost their sense of control over a situation. When your success is directly related to the actions of others, it can bring out the worst in you.

However, once you learn how to bring out the best in others, you will all succeed as a group!

One of my teachers once told me, “If you had Michael Jordan on your team, you would let him play! You wouldn’t keep him on the bench all game.” And she was, of course, correct. When you have talented teammates, as a leader, you should empower them to do what they do best. For your group work projects, bringing out the best in others requires three simple steps:

1) Identify the skills and passions of others in your team

2) Assign roles that match the person’s talents or interests

3) Don’t tell them how to do their job / Don’t micromanage

The first step is identifying the skills of your teammates. Everyone has something that they are good at or that they like doing. When you discover, for instance, who on your team is the creative thinker and who is the analytical thinker, you can then place those people in roles where they can flourish.

The second step is as follows: Once you have identified each person’s strengths and what they bring to the team, give them tasks that they can perform to the best of their ability. For example, the creative person might be great at brainstorming ideas, but lack the discipline to choose one single idea and iron out all the details. A more detail-oriented teammate might be a pro at developing an outline and filling in the missing spaces, but a nervous wreck when it comes to presenting. A third teammate, who is very outgoing and enthusiastic but seems to lose focus easily, might be a captivating presenter. If you assign these people to the right roles, you can see how the entire group will succeed with far less of a headache. Likewise, if you arbitrarily assign people to tasks such that their talents are not being used effectively, you waste time and energy and create unnecessary stress.

The third step is just stepping back and watching your well-oiled machine work. When you have identified people’s strengths and placed them in the right positions, you need to make them feel empowered to do their job their way. Sometimes, this can be the most difficult step, especially for the leader. It is difficult to trust people when you have a stake in the collective results! You need to first trust yourself and know that you have performed the first two steps well.

All right, what do you do when you get a dud on your team who seems to have no skills? I know that not every team is going to have prodigal members with useful core competencies. When this happens, I suggest you ask that person what they think they are good at. Everyone thinks that they have strengths in some area (whether you agree or not is a different story). Let them tell you how they feel they can best contribute, and see where it goes from there.

Much of this goes back to the idea of SYNERGY which I reference in an earlier post: 2 + 2 = 5. Look for the Michael Jordans on your team and let them shine! It is difficult to trust others and relinquish control, but you must find a way if you want to succeed as a team.

Have you ever felt like you were the Michael Jordan on your team and that your talents were wasted? How can you avoid letting that happen to others in the future?

Don’t win an argument, but lose a friend

The art of debate is an important skill for us to develop as young people. Even if you never plan to enter a formal debate or speak on the floor of Congress, the same basic principles will help you win any debate, from extending your curfew with mom and dad to negotiating your starting salary and benefits for your first job. Here are a few simple tips:

• Opinions are not facts
• Don’t exaggerate
• Use evidence to support your claim
• Keep the conversation to the issues, not the people
• Avoid sweeping statements and generalizations (words like never, always, only)
• Don’t editorialize, keep your points as objective as possible
• Be careful not to contradict yourself

These are just a few simple tips to keep in mind, and they seem like common sense, but you would be surprised how often basic debate etiquette is violated for even the most inconsequential topics.

Before we get too much further into debate etiquette, let’s first define “winning an argument.” In order to win an argument, you can do one of two things: 1) prove your position is stronger than your opponent’s 2) prove your opponent’s position is weaker than yours. Again, common sense, right?  If you have ever been in a heated debate, I’m sure you would agree it’s never quite this simple.

So, why do debates get so heated if the rules are so simple and the outcomes so clear? There are a few reasons why debates can get out of control, and this is almost always caused by a violation of one of the rules above.

A common pitfall is making the issues personal or attacking the character of an opponent instead of the content of their ideas.  This is generally an attempt to discredit the presenter in order to invalidate their argument.  But logically, and in a structured environment, that tactic should never work, because the ideas are what should be discussed – not the presenters.

Another common problem in debate is that, since the issues at hand are generally very important to participants (or they wouldn’t be so adamant to represent their side), a debater’s judgement can be clouded by passion. While passion is an important part of debate, it is only an asset if you can control it. Uncontrolled passion will become a liability.

Additionally, you cannot craft a compelling argument without evidence and research. An unfounded argument will never win. Before you even choose a side of an issue, you should research your current position and the alternatives. Once you know more about the opposing side, you can use that information to your advantage and present a logical, objective argument. Remember: Feelings and opinions are not fact, and in a structured debate will not be compelling. Just like passion, feelings and opinions have their place, but an argument founded on these “softer” selling points will not be sustainable.

Lastly, it is important to remember that to win a debate or an argument, you do not always have to prove that your position is the best. Sometimes, you only need to prove that the alternative solution is flawed. If you can take apart someone else’s argument and prove its shortcomings, even just one minor element that contradicts or invalidates the entire position, you will show the strength of your side.

We have all seen heated debates over critical issues in business, religion, politics, medicine, and various other fields. Then again, we’ve also been privy to knock-down, drag-out fights over who gets the remote control or what’s for dinner. So, even if you don’t plan to join a debate team, these concepts can help you to get what you want – and make the other person think it was their idea! 

What was the last argument you had? Do you feel like you won or lost? How do you think your opponent feels? Was it possible for you both to win? I believe that there is almost always a way for both parties to feel like they won at the end of a discussion. If you keep to these rules and stay professional, everyone can feel that their points were heard and acknowledged.  And sometimes, at the end of the day, you just have to agree to disagree!

2 + 2 = 5

In college, you’re supposed to learn advanced math skills, and in your classes they will tell you that 2 + 2 = 4. But in business, and in life, 1 + 1 can sometimes equal 3, and 2 + 2 can sometimes equal 5. This is the concept of SYNERGY.

Synergy is the idea that when you combine two elements, the result is greater than each component part could have been on its own. The little extra created through synergy is a result of working together and benefiting from diverse talents and perspectives. You can apply the concept of synergy to essentially anything, but it is most relevant for college students in group assignments.

Often, in a group project, synergy does not take place. This can happen for a multitude of reasons. It could be that one group member acts as a control freak or micromanager and takes most of the responsibility for themselves. It could be that a few members slack off and don’t really care about the assignment. It could also be that members are assigned to tasks they do not enjoy, or have no talent for.

What are the benefits of creating a synergistic environment, and what can we do to foster such an environment?

The benefits of synergy can be vast! The object is to break up a project into small, specialized tasks, and then match each contributor’s skills and passions to the appropriate task. When you do this, everyone benefits, and the group will perform far better than if each person had tried to do the project alone.

Teachers assign group work because it is a challenge to get people to work together. Creating synergy is not an easy task. It takes effort to discover what skills others possess and get them excited about contributing to the project. The keys to fostering an environment in which people can perform at their best are:

1. Identify others’ skills and passions and assign tasks that complement their core competencies

2. Get your team motivated about achieving a common goal with clear results and rewards

3. Set a specific timeline for each task and the overall goal

4. Let others know how their individual contribution directly affects the success of the team

5. Keep each person accountable for their activity

The idea of “two heads are better than one” (or three heads are better than two) is what synergy is all about. This can only work in a controlled environment. We’ve all experienced occasions on which more people do not lead to better ideas or greater productivity. These five steps are a simple outline to keep everyone in your team on track, motivated, and accountable.

Everyone has had a bad experience with group work. What went wrong in your team? Was one of these five steps missing? It is difficult to explain until you experience it, but the power of 2 + 2 = 5 can change your entire life, and how you think about leadership and delegation.

Although I don’t recommend correcting your math teachers, I hope you will agree that sometimes 2 + 2 really does equal 5! What will you do next time you are in a group to promote synergy?