THREE MONKS AND THE MANAGEMENT FUNDA

After the cultural revolution and the fall of the political Gang of Four in 1976, the film was one of the first animations created as part of the rebirth period. It is also referred to as The Three Buddhist Priests.

So after watching the short film we came to a conclusion that:

Table shows a comparative study of number of monks and the buckets of water they carried.

The parameters on which combination is to be judged best are manpower (input), number of buckets carried (output), time .

A simple formula has been devised to calculate the efficiency of each of the methods in terms of Number of buckets transported per person per unit time.

Efficiency = Output/(Manpower*Time required*Effort)

From the 3 situations, it can be inferred that efficiency in the case of situation 3 is higher than the efficiency in situation 1 & 2.

However, during times of crisis the following parameters can force a manager to choose from other options :

1.     Availability of manpower
2.    Time available for production
3.    Motivation levels of manpower

Standardization of Work

Standard working procedures are designed to reduce effort, time and manpower. An organization is supposed to design its procedures in such a way that people of all backgrounds find it easy to work in the designed environment using the designed procedure.

Some advantages of work-standardization have been shown above.  (taken from Toyota’s lean manufacturing concepts)

Similarly , in the movie a point comes where the monks were trying to mark a wooden stick using there hand-span. This led to a divergence of opinion since measurements were not the same every time due to different hand-span lengths of the monks.

A scale as a standard was used to mark up the position from where the load would be hung.

Standardization will help in minimizing loss of any activity due to different skill set of persons.

A lesson from the movie can be taken as all people having different attributes, different skill-sets.

The above depiction is a fundamental expression of how all people are different. The different animals in the pictures showing the different personalities of the monks. Organisations face similar problems  in standardizing work due to different personalities of humans working in a particular field.

FLAT Organisations vs Single Head

If we compare the way organizational principles apply in the beginning and the end of the film, in the beginning only one monk was operating . Looking after all activities. He was the sole-decision maker.

The end of the film showed the working of the three monks portraying the facets of a flat organization. Where all hierarchical levels are similar and every person has an equal say in all decisions. Procedures are also defined in such a manner that any interchange of positions will not result in any loss of productivity.

GOAL SETTING AND ITS IMPORTANCE

Goal setting is important to help people work towards their common objective. Goals set need to be concrete in order to have a clear vision and subsequently strive to achieve them.

Thus our goals need to be S.M.A.R.T

So how do we define smart.

    S – Specific

·         The goals need to have all the specification related to the task. This ensures that we have our destination in place i.e. we know where we have to be in the end.

     M – Measurable

·         This is more or less like a ruler for measuring our performance.

A – Attainable

·         The attainable aspect deals with taking into consideration our own strengths and weaknesses when setting our goals.

 R – Relevant

·         The relevant aspects focus on the now. The goals that are set now might not be relevant tomorrow as the business environment is continuously changing.

 T – Time Bound

·         The time bound aspect deals with the deadline that needs to be set as that an optimal performance is guaranteed. This not only saves time and resources but also ensures that efforts are directed accordingly.

Apart from being an acronym for something this is actually a smart concept. So we are again in confusion weather our GOAL is smart enough to fulfill our dreams or not.

PYGMALION EFFECT
In Greek Mythology, the mythical sculptor carves a statue of a woman that is brought to life and falls in love with it. Pygmalion explores the notion that the way one person treats another, for better or worse, can be transforming. For example, If a teacher believes a child is slow, the child will come to believe that, too, and will indeed learn slowly. The lucky child who strikes a teacher as bright also picks up on that expectation and will rise to fulfill it.
Creating positive expectations is remarkably difficult, and it offers guidelines for managers: Focus special attention on an employee’s first year because that’s when expectations are set, make sure new hires get matched with outstanding supervisors, and set high expectations for yourself.  

Main Purpose: It is to realize the potential.
Potential = Reality
Goal Setting should evolve in a Fibonacci kind of way.
 

So, one must always try to challenge himself and always set higher goals and never underestimate oneself.

Craft Management & Modern Management

As you see the definitions of Craft management & Modern management , you would not get enough ideas about both of them.

But as I said in my last blog that Prof. Mandi uses some toys to explain , he did the same for this one too.
This time he had some wooden cubes with some letter or pics printed on it.

He asked us , whom will you trust more?

A blind folded person who has to perform the task with some other person vision and orders or a normal person if you had to build the tower of blocks and that too with single block? As usual everyone went with the normal person which can use his senses to perform the task.

Then came the interesting part, He asked us to have a bid for what you can build without letting the blocks fall. Bidding started with usual 15 blocks at Rs 100 and ended 20 blocks with Rs 400. Finally the person was called up and was told to perform. He used his both hands , also lifted more than 2 blocks and shifted the cubes so as it may not fall. He completed the task with 22 blocks at a time standing.

Example of craft management.

The tower built by normal person.

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Now came the second situation which was very interesting.
Sir asked everyone who could build the tower with his eyes closed and being operated and advised by some other student as its done in case of industries. Everyone hesitated first but then someone dared to perform the act and as usual sir asked him money for the same.
Three students came forward .
One of them had to perform task .(Labour)
Second had to only instruct him.(Manager)
Third one had to only supervise the project.(CEO)

Modern Management

At first they both had to give 100 Rs each for entering the game. Then they were left alone to discuss who would be the CEO , Manager & the Labour. After their decision their limit was asked . They agreed on 14 Cubes placed at a time. Then came the interesting part. Sir increased their difficulty level by ordering them not to pick up more than one Cube and also not to use right hand.

Aaj ka khana , aaj hi kamao.

With everyone's amazement the game started and par the expectations they reached 15 blocks.
Their Target was over but still they were trying to place the cubes at the right place.
though it seemed difficult task but with the proper management and executions it made the game very much interesting. At 20 blocks CEO came and appreciated the manger for good work and bribed the Labour with money to over-perform the other competitor ( Normal man).





They out performed the normal man and they succeeded in putting 25 blocks. Everyone was feeling proud and the CEO gave the labour a sum of Rs 500 as a bonus and appreciation gift. Whole class was out of words about their predictions .

Those Who Dares , Tastes The Victory.

                                   The final perception regarding the event was :-

1st person : Example of craft management.

2nd person : Example of Modern management.

Finally we were able to understand the main difference between both.
Craft management uses its brain in case he gets stuck or finds any trouble whereas Modern management 

 teaches us only to perform work as we are trained to and not to use our brain . 

Modern Management

The Major Difference .

I could't have thought of a better class than this . In this class we learned the basic fundas and principles of Modern Management very easily and the game was very enjoying though it was of immense use in understanding the theory . Would like to thank our respected Professor Mr. T Prasad for this wonderful experience and for making study so easy.

FIRST DAY IN POM CLASS

It was raining heavily in Mumbai and we were inside our classroom waiting for our teacher.
No one loves to attend classes in such weather but we had too because it was our first class.
After a while our Professor Mr Prasad better known as Prof. Mandi came to class.
We were taken aback as he told us why to sit on chair... come closer and lets have our seat near the board.
He too sat with us. Opened his bag full of toys (we were expecting books ) . Then came the interesting part, he showed us two toys...
One was a globe

and the second was Newton's cradle.

He tested our knowledge on the basics by using the cradle. We answered most but still some of the questions remained as doubts. Later he explained how this toys were used by a group of Production Engineers for starting there own company .
Then he explained the facts about business and how to live our life.
Guru Mantra was Find the ways how you can earn , not how you can spend .
He also motivated us to have such a ideology that would fetch us money.

After this he told us about the importance of Mandi... an annual event where NITIE's students used to sell items in the streets of Mumbai learning the real business tactics.

The motive of his teaching was an opportunity lies around us, we just have to think differently & grab it. We have learned a lot throughout our student life, now it is the time to apply it & earn.  We need to earn while learn.

      This session changed my thought process & the way I thought about business marketing.