A multinational corporation runs a training program for 30 newly hired consultants. The program director splits the recruits into two groups based on their month of birth: Group Alpha (born January to June) and Group Beta (born July to December). The director falsely tells the recruits that an initial assessment indicates Group Alpha has "elite strategic foresight" and "exceptional leadership capability," whereas Group Beta consists of "tactical implementers" who perform best under close supervision with highly structured tasks.

During the six-week program, facilitators heavily praise Group Alpha for their ideas, provide them with highly detailed, supportive feedback, and assign them high-profile strategic simulation tasks. In contrast, Group Beta is given minimal feedback, assigned repetitive data-formatting tasks, and is told by the facilitators, "It is typical of Group Beta to struggle with abstract strategy, which is why we must focus our expert mentorship on the strategic minds in Group Alpha." The Group Alpha recruits soon began treating the Group Beta recruits with condescension.

By the end of the program, Group Beta members reported low job satisfaction, high anxiety, and many of them skipped networking events. Conversely, Group Alpha recruits "exceeded all performance benchmarks" and were fast-tracked for early promotion. When a Group Beta member failed to submit a routine status report on time, a Group Alpha member remarked, "Classic Beta, completely lacking professional drive and organization."