Managerial Delight in Crossing the Valley

Hello World,

Its been a while since my lost and in that course I missed covering a few things of Prof. Mandi. But here I am with a new delight that we witnessed in the last lecture. Let me describe the situation first. Its about 3 skilled persons, working in a team. Their work is so coordinated that even their steps size are coherent. In the task, they need to cross a valley which is wide enough that they cannot cross it in single step, but not wide enough that they cannot cross. In short, valley is little wider than their one step but less than their 2 steps. This can be inferred from the below picture.

This a classic example of managerial lessons as well as organizational operation. When we closely monitor each person, we can actually infer that there are a total of 27; 9 positions each; positions while performing this activity. For every person, out of 9, there are 6 safe positions, 2 half safe and 1 completely unsafe position. Below is the illustration of the same-

LEGENDS-
L = left Leg of the Person
R = Right Leg of the Person
Number = Denotes the position of the person
Green Box = Complete Safe Footing
Red Box = Complete Unsafe Footing
Yellow Box = Represents the Valley

Thus as in step 2, person 1 is half unsafe and half safe as his left leg is in the air (entered valley) while his right foot is still on the ground. While in Step 3, his both the legs have left the ground and he his hanging above the valley by holding the pole and thus he is completely unsafe.

Thus we found the following few traits as very essential for this activity to be successful-
1. Step size and speed of the 3 person must be synchronized.
2. This is a team task where individual performance is effectively and efficiently used.
3. The trust factor among 3 persons play a crucial role in success of this activity.
4. Real time communication along with cross feedback is mandatory.
5. Negligence on any of the 27 steps could prove to be fatal.
6. Tool/Equipment quality also plays out handy in ensuring the success.
7. Partial success should not overjoy you until the complete task is over.
8. Anyone taking the risk initially does not make him a leader/boss, but then the person should be motivated       for his initiative.

This small illustration by Prof. Mandi in the class taught a lot many lessons of organizational management. Following are the take away from the activity-

1. Goal Setting - An organization must be very clear about its goal. The goal should not be such which cannot be achieved but should be realistic and the organization should work on the ways to achieve it in the best possible manner.

2. Shared Vision & Unity of Purpose - Once the goal has been set, the vision of achieving it should be shared by each and every individual. A clear vision of the goal, is what unites individual into a team and lead them to cooperate and collaborate for the goal achievement.

3. Trust Factor - Once the unity of purpose has been established among the team members, the factor of trust will be bound to come. Trust factor among the team members lets the team work unanimously for the attainment of the goal without letting anyone committing mistake.

4. Team Work - Success of few tasks like mentioned above are dependent on the team rather than individual. Developing a meaningful and inspiring mission always motivate the team members. Thus developing a positive team culture becomes equally important which binds the members through a cohesive force.

5. Work Distribution - This is one of the most crucial aspect of the team unity. The distribution of the work must be strictly based on the individual capability. The manage must have clear idea in his mind about the potential of his resources.

6. Positive Work Culture - This helps in motivating the team members. Team members should be able to appreciate the work done by others and thus motivate themselves by setting the ideals. Team members should be able to appreciate the risk taking capability of other people.

Let me incite an example here. World T20 Final, 1st edition, when India defeated its arch rival in a nail crunching match. If one can recall the last over,when our beloved MSD handed over the ball to a newbie Joginder Sharma instead of Bhajji. A decision which could have upset many experts but finally it was the team India and its combined efforts who pulled off. It was a team with unity and a vision of winning the World T20 Cup, the trust they had in their captain who lead them successfully till the finals. Despite the risk of losing the match, the capability of taking risk and finally the unanimous backing up of the decision - probably all these factors were behind the success and led team India to go on, win the match, lift the cup and become the World Champions.
Relive the moment here -

Here are few videos on the topic -

Hope you will like it. As always, comments and suggestions are welcome.

Cheers.
Ashutosh

Management Lessons : Three Chinese Monks' Style

Hello World,

There is an old Chinese proverb - "One monk will shoulder two buckets of water, two monks will share the load, but add a third and no one will want to fetch water". This proverb inspired director A Da to make one of the most appreciated movie in 1980 under Shanghai Animation Film Studio - 'The Three Monks'.

This short animated movie of about 20 minutes, teaches many management lessons to the world without speaking out a single dialogue. The ability of the movie to speak out aloud, makes it worth many awards it has already been honored with. Prof. Mandi brings out this epic into his class and imparts the lessons of management.

Details could be read here.

Let us analyse the movie categorically-

First Monk: Short in height and generous enough to take care of the leaning creature such as tortoise and dying plant in the monastery. He presents you a classic scenario of self reliance where he himself is assigned of all responsibilities. In absence of any assistance, he himself carry 2 buckets of water on a daily basis, managing them through a fulcrum setup. He fetches 2 buckets of water everyday which is more than sufficient to meet his and monastery's need. But this gives him fatigue and satisfaction, as he is the one utilising the resources himself.

Second Monk Joins the First In Monastery: Tall and a generous creature joins the first monk on the hilltop monastery. But soon differences creeps in between the two for fetching the water from the river flowing at the basin of the hill. They try to sort it out amicably and design the fulcrum to carry 1 bucket on fulcrum. But due to difference in their heights, it fails. But, through proper measurement, they soon find a way out to fetch water.

Third Monk Joins The Party: A third fat monk soon joins the previous two in monastery. Owing to his heavy appearance, he consumes all the water to quench his thirst. This enrages the first two monks and they assign him the work to fetch water. Third monk does so just to consume the whole water himself. Finally, all the three monks stops fetching water owing to clashes among them. 

Thus we come across a scenario where none of the three monks are ready to fetch the water from the river down the hill though everybody is thirsty. This not only rifts the harmony of the monastery apart but also starts affecting their concentration. Consequently this benefits a rat who comes to scrounge and knocks the candle-holder resulting in a devastating fire in the monastery.

As a result of the arson, three of them unite and fetches water together to save the heritage they possess. This incident enlightens their wisdom and finally they come together and invent a pulley mechanism to fetch water. They also practice division of work among them which optimizes their work and thus they live happily after.

Let us study in detail the management lessons imparted by this short movie-

1. Team Work
           The movie brings out the importance of working in team/as a group aloud. A work might be done individualistically but as a group it can be done more proficiently without burdening any single individual. Importance of every individual matters in the group to envision the completion of any task.

2. Division Of Labor
          Working in a group does not produces result until it is accompanied by the proper distribution of work. Improper distribution of work may lead to differences and rifts among team members, resulting in the loss of concentration and productivity. Division of work after proper talent recognition is as important as getting the job done.

3. Accountability
          Once the work has been assigned to a particular individual, then they must take the responsibility to the fullest. Their accountability ensures the completion of a quality work on time, with little scope for errors and mishaps.

4. Crisis Management
           Hard times often brings the best out of an individual. A calm composure and rational behavior is all what is required to handle any damn situation. Working as a group eases out the burden if one is stuck in some difficulty.

5. Innovation
         'Necessity is the mother of invention.'-A very vague statement to make but very true to its meaning. If one is not satisfied with the existing monotonous approach of doing things, then the only way out is to invent or innovate a new one. One should always strive for the betterment of the process.

Finally, one should let go the monetary interests while working in a team. A team can never achieve on individualistic approach. It has to put in efforts as one single unit, then only it can expect the desired outcomes.

These were the few management lessons I could gather from the movie. Surely there are many more. I request all the readers to post at least one(apart from the mentioned) lesson that can be learned from the movie. I also invite comments and suggestions.

Cheers.
Ashutosh