POM Class 5

"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." --- Ancient Chinese Proverb

          Cartoons have always been a very effective medium for communicating ideas. So it piqued my interest when the class was asked to watch a cartoon as part of preparation for a class. I watched the cartoon (roughly 15 minutes) with a bit of curiosity and as usual it did not disappoint!!

          Let me quickly summarise the cartoon. A young monk lives a simple life in a temple on top of a hill. He has one daily task of hauling two buckets of water

Three Monks by the Shanghai Animation Film Studio

up the hill. He tries to share the job with another monk, but the carry pole is only long enough for one bucket. The arrival of a third monk prompts everyone to expect that someone else will take on the chore. Consequently, no one fetches water though everybody is thirsty. At night, a rat comes to scrounge and then knocks the candle-holder, leading to a devastating fire in the temple. The three monks finally unite together and make a concerted effort to put out the fire. Since then they understand the old saying "unity is strength" and begin to live a harmonious life. The temple never lacks water again as they have devised an efficient process to haul the water.

          In class, we started by analysing what happened in each case and by trying to understand the most effective method. Our discussions could be summarised in the table below:

	One Monk with Single bucket on head (M1')	One Monk with two Buckets (M1)	Two Monks with one Bucket (M2)	Three Monks in the work flow process (assembly line pulley system; M3)
Number of People	1	1	2	3
Effort	Most	A little less than M1'	Much less than M1'	Least effort
Output	Low	Higher than M1'	Less than M1	Most
Efficiency	Least	More than M1'	More than M1	Most efficient
Possible Reason	Less output with more effort	More Effort but also more output	Less Effort but more output	Least Effort and Most output

Team Work

               Our conclusion was that Team work and Synergy not only improves output but also reduces the effort drastically. Herein lies a very important management lesson. But we also cam across another characteristic, namely, collaboration. We see that a form of Industrial Democracy or Participative Management.

Participative Management

               Participative Management is a type of management in which employees at all levels are encouraged to contribute ideas towards identifying and setting organisational-goals, problem solving, and other decisions that may directly affect them. It is also called consultative management. This can actually boost both production and efficiency. It also leads to a much more healthier and happier work culture.

              To sum-up, the two most important takeaways from this class was : (a) Team Work and (b) Participative Management. And of course there is the old adage; United we stand, divided we fall....

I am adding the video of the cartoon which is available on Youtube.