Nitie-Sahil-Session-4

                          The Three Monks

Main focus area were :

• Work planning
• Efficient work methods
• Innovation
• Importance of productivity for managerial excellence

A famous saying by Henry Ford goes as

"  Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. 

  Working together is success  "

Overview of the story :

Below is the short animation clip of the Three Monks :

The above film is based on an ancient 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."

The story is about the three monks who travel all the way up to the Buddhist monastery located on a hilltop. It shows that how the three monks struggle when carrying water to the monastery and the obstacles they all face. The story tells us that how working in team can be more efficient than working individually.

Plot

The three monks visit the monastery situated on a hilltop. The first monk has a daily task of bringing the bucket full of water up to the monastery until the second monk arrives. As the second monk comes, he initially takes up the task of bringing water by himself. After some time he realizes that the task involves a lot of effort and cannot be done alone so he asks the other monk to join him. Both the monk take up the task together and do it together. The situation however changes when the third monk enters the monastery.

Now everyone wishes for some other monk to finish the task but that does not happen and all of them remain thirsty. One night the fire breaks out in the monastery and the three monks are left with no water to extinguish it. Soon the three monks wake up to their senses and decide to unite and put out the fire.

This incident leaves them with a learning experience and from then onwards, they start doing the work in a team. This leads to the harmonious life in the temple.

Observations and Learning :

One formula derived from the above excercise is

                        Excellence = Efficiency * Effectiveness


we hereby come to know that in order to achieve excellence in any work, it is very important to carry it effectively and efficiently. More the above two factors more will be the success achieved in that work.


With respect to the above scenario we see that



           SITUATION                                                     IMPACT
1) Only 1 monk carrying 2           -->          Monk  is physically exhausted and cannot afford to
     buckets with the help of                           carry out the task again on the same day.
     a stick.

2) Bucket being carried by 2       -->          Work pressure becomes less compared to the 1st
     monks with the help of a                         situation and they get time for prayers
     stick

3) All 3 monks involved in the    -->          Pressure of work is minimized, they enjoy doing 
     task                                                             the work, get more time for prayers. Excellence is
                                                                          achieved as a result of increased efficiency




The above task helps us to understand that within any organisation the employees need to work together in order to attain the maximum output. 

Nitie-Sahil-Session-3

Valley Crossing

An interesting activity that was executed in the class. As a part of this activity the learning process is enhanced and it becomes more efficient.

Idea : A basic task consisting of 3 people trying to cross a valley with a help of a bamboo.

Let us understand the task in detail along with the steps involved.

Pictorial representation

What is the task all about ?

The task consists of 3 people trying to cross a valley with a help of a bamboo. The main constraint is that the valley is greater than 1 step but less than 2 steps. The 3 people have to start form one end of the valley and reach the other end with the help of a bamboo.

Is the task feasible and if yes than how to do it ?

Yes, it is feasible and the steps to do it are as follows :

Step 1 : The 3 people stand in a row and hold the bamboo on their shoulders.

Step 2 : The 2nd and the 3rd person move forward while the 1st person is hanging on the bamboo while crossing the valley.

Step 3 : As the 1st person reaches the other side, he and the 3rd person moves forward wile the 2nd person remains hanging from the bamboo.

Step 4 : Finally the 1st and 2nd person aree on the other side and moving forward with the 3rd person hanging from the bamboo.

Step 5 : All the three reach the other side and are successful in crossing the valley.

Conclusion :

Each of the above step consist of some risk factor. For instance in step 1 when all 3 person are on the same side then no risk is involved. But in next step 1st person is at risk and 2nd and 3rd are safe. Similarly we can see in the remaining steps one person remains in risk and the other two are safe. And finally when they reach the other side all of them become safe again.

The UNDERSTANDING that can be drawn out of it are the following :

1) Team Work --> It is very essential for a team to have a proper understanding and work in unity since the      work would be more efficient and there will be no damage. In a company the pressure to perform is on the complete team but if they don't work together than no efficient work is possible.         

2) Ability To Take Risk ---> Also, it is equally important to have the ability to take risks whenever the situation demands it. Sometimes in a company the manager has to take decisions which include most risk but it is essential to be done.

3)Planning --->Each task to be performed requires a bit of planning before it is executed. When a project is being handled in a company it requires a good amount of analysis and planning to minimize the risk.

Another beautifully explained activity by our professor Dr Prasad, who as always delivers the best to bring out the best.  

Nitie-Sahil-Session 2

 Khan Academy

        

Introduction

"Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. Today is a gift. That's why it's called the present "

This in itself is a beautiful quote and it relates to every person on the planet Earth. The same thought turned out to be true in case of Salman Khan, the CEO and founder of Khan Academy.

Things that he never planned made his life experience even more beautiful. He is a graduate of MIT and Harvard Business School. The academy was launched in September 2006 and  is a non profit organisation which aims at providing the learning experience online through recorded videos. It has more than 3200 micro lectures through video tutorials available.



Vision

The aim was clearly to make the learning experience more easier and readily available to everyone.
Their vision for Khan Academy in the classroom includes

• Individualizing learning by replacing one-size-fits-all lectures with self-paced learning
• Taking a mastery-based approach to learning critical knowledge and skills (every student takes as long as he/she needs to learn each concept fully)
• Creating collaborative learning environments with students solving problems together and tutoring one another
• Using focused coaching by the teacher to address students' individual needs 
• Providing guidance to the teacher through real-time metrics and reporting on student performance

They believe that teachers can use our resources to meet the needs of all of their students.

Mission

The academy has a clear mission of "providing a high quality education to anyone to anyone, anywhere".

Innovative new generation organisation

The concept of Khan Academy came into existence when he was giving tutions to his cousins through online videos. The videos featured him teaching a particular topic which could be seen by his cousins for learning that particular topic. It was very soon enough that he realised that his cousins preferred him in videos than in person.


This brought a revolutionary change in his mindset. He quickly learned the idea of selling knowledge online without any teacher being available.


The link below shows his experience of starting the venture :


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nTFEUsudhfs

OR

Watch the video below about his experience:

Theory X and Theory Y Applications

Theory X and Theory Y represent two sets of assumptions about human nature and human behavior that are relevant to the practice of management. Theory X represents a negative view of human nature that assumes individuals generally dislike work, are irresponsible, and require close supervision to do their jobs. Theory Y denotes a positive view of human nature and assumes individuals are generally industrious, creative, and able to assume responsibility and exercise self-control in their jobs. One would expect, then, that managers holding assumptions about human nature that are consistent with Theory X might exhibit a managerial style that is quite different than managers who hold assumptions consistent with Theory Y.

The above model of organisation is based on theory Y since it's a non profit educational organisation. Everybody here contributes to the model without any pressure. None is forced to do their work rather they are passionate about their work .They are not forced to do their work rather they contribute to the academy on their own. They work in order to change the educational system for something good.

 

Nitie-Sahil-session1

This discussion will consist answer to few of the questions like :

•          How to have effective management ?
•          What are the main requirements for effective management ?
•          How to plan and execute effective management ?

To answer the first question we need to understand the goals that are needed to be set before achieving effective management. Here the role of smarter goals is important and we shall try and understand it in detail now.

SMARTER GOALS

Letter

Major Term

and    Minor Terms

S	Specific	Significant, Stretching, Simple
M	Measurable	Meaningful, Motivational, Manageable
A	Attainable	Appropriate, Achievable, Agreed, Assignable, Actionable, Ambitious, Aligned, Aspirational, Acceptable, Action-focused
R	Realistic	Results-oriented, Relevant, Resourced, Resonant
T	Timely	Time-oriented, Time framed, Timed, Time-based, Timeboxed, Time-bound, Time-Specific, Timetabled, Time limited, Trackable, Tangible
E	Evaluate	Ethical, Excitable, Enjoyable, Engaging, Ecological
R	Reevaluate	Rewarded, Reassess, Revisit, Recordable, Rewarding, Reaching

Setting of goals needs to be carried out in two phases :

1.           Before performance.
2.           After performance.

Let us try and understand 1^st phase in detail with practical examples.

An activity of tower building was considered for practical example in which we had to make a tower building from a lot of equal sized cubes available. Initially the 1^st phase of the activity was initiated which took into consideration the following:

•  Potential -  A realistic value was cited by each student in the class (for eg. 21, 17, 13...etc to name a few) as a part of setting the goal.
• Historical performance – Some past experience were shared to get an idea of actually achievable number.The previously achieved number was mentioned as 17.

 After this the goal was set and was ready to enter in the execution phase.

Proceedings of the activity by step:

Activity started with 3 candidates being the volunteers. Each candidate was related to positions in real business organisation. One represented the top layer mainly the owner of the company who had only a little participation in the activity. The 2^nd candidate held  the senior position in the company (for eg. a CEO for instance). The 3^rd and the final candidate had the toughest part to play being the actual worker of the company and carrying out the work.

Rule followed was that the worker would be blindfolded and he will build the tower with his odd hand.

A glance of activity proceedings when in midway

Our professor trying to calm down the things and explaining the process

Activity reaching the set target

    

Finally the tower and the people taking a sigh of relief after achieving set target

Summary : 

The activity showed that how an owner would react to the situations without much being in his hands. The 2^nd candidate or the senior position holder of the company displayed the work of management and to keep calm in different situations. The 3^rd person displayed the work of the normal workers ie focussing only on the goal with effective understanding.

Now after the 1st phase is over and the activity has also finished we enter into the 2nd phase ie after performance. It mostly consists of evaluation of the whole process by comparing the findings with the assumptions taken before.

Some thoughts about Theory X and Theory Y are as follows 

     1) Theory X states an authoritative type of management where the manager gets the work done by force. It assumes the following for an average person :

• Dislikes work and attempts to avoid it.
• Has no ambition and wants no responsibility.
• Is self centered and therefore does not care about the organisational goals.
• Resists change.

      

      Basically it assumes that people work only for money and security.

     2) Theory Y states a participative type of management where the participates and motivates the worker. Few assumptions of theory Y are as follows :

• Work can be as natural as play and rest.
• People will be self -directed to meet their work objectives.
• People will be committed to their objectives.
• Under this condition, people will seek responsibility.

In the above activity we truly followed the Theory Y by implementing participation of the manager.