You’ve heard of the Peter Principle: In a hierarchy every employee tends to rise to his level of incompetence. Less-known is the Paul and Mary Principle, which is: In a hierarchy that fetishizes team-based work, it’s inevitable you’ll be tapped to lead the office’s most complex, critical project and get stuck with the two laziest, most worthless colleagues on your team. Let’s call these nimrods “Paul” and “Mary.”