POM Class 2/3

                      A professor walking into a class with a box of playing blocks is strange indeed. But what's more strange is that with these blocks we could learn a very important lessons indeed. The principle aim of this class was teach us the most important idea of modern management and to show case how different it was from older and more primitive forms of management.

                                  

                     Prof. Mandi started the class by asking two simple questions: (a) How many blocks do you think a person (working by himself/herself) could stack one above the other? (b) How many blocks would a blindfolded person be able to stack one above the other, given that he/she has the oral help of another person? To make things interesting, Prof. Mandi asked us to place a bet on how far we go with real cash!!!

                      The bet for the case (a) was valiantly taken up by one for Rs.400/-. He bet he could stack 20 blocks or more. He had made a very good estimate. He ended up staking 22!! Then Prof. Mandi asked for the bets for case (b). Suddenly both the amount and block had drastically reduced. It is here that we were taught an important lesson.

Open-Eyed Worker

                           In modern management, we prefer the blind worker. The blind worker's job is to listen. He/She need not worry about the consequence or the outcome of the work they do. That is the work of the management. The job of the worker is to do the job they are told. This takes out all element of fear that the worker may have. He/She out-performs themselves and the result is usually something efficient and worthwhile. The management should worry about decisions and deadlines. They should ensure efficiency. They are also both educated and trained to do so. Hence modern management likes the blind worker.

                           Prof. Mandi claimed that we could easily stack more that 22 blocks. He once again asked us to place our bets for the blind worker. Three people took up the challenge and bet Rs.500/- for stacking 23 blocks. And amazing they were able to build a tower by stacking 29 blocks!!! Hence proved.

Blind Eyed Worker with adviser (manager)

                          Modern management has great potential to increase productivity. Thus was produced one on the greatest management innovation – the assembly line. However, there is a downside. Workers may tend to feel left out. Workers may feel that they are merely a machine. This remains the greatest challenge to modern management. How do we motivate workers and make them feel like part of a team?

Key Learning:

The key learning could be summed up by the below simple comparison.

Parameter	One Person (Old School)	Many Person (New School)
WORK	Highly Ambiguous	Crystal Clear
SKILL	Highly Skilled	Some amount of De-skilling
SATISFACTION	Some level of satisfaction	Much less satisfaction
TIME	More time	Much less time
DECISION	Decision taken by single person	By specialized management cadre

POM Class 1

“Education is the progressive discovery of our own ignorance.”

                              ---- Will Durant ( American writer, philosopher, historian)

               When Prof. Prasad held up a Newton's Cradle^[1] in his hand and asked us what would happened if he raised three balls and left them, one thought struck my mind. In all the times I had learned or read about the Newton's Cradle, not once did it cross my mind to actually get hold of one and try out the thing myself. Not once did it cross my mind to think beyond my books and lessons. For me – in Shakespeare's words – my books were dukedom large enough.

                Perhaps that is the most important lesson I learned in my first class. Doing is Knowing. There is no better substitute. But there was also a very important marketing lesson here. If people were told the simple joys they miss out on – like experimenting on a Newton's Cradle – then there is a good chance that they would buy products like these. It is a great opportunity for business because more often than not people don't buy such product because they are unaware.

Newton's Cradle

                                                                                                     

                It is also in this context that I find the very concept of Mandi to be ingenious. The brainchild of Prof. T Prasad , Mandi is an annual event at NITIE in which students take to the streets selling a variety of items. It's anthem is "Becho aur Seekho, Seekho aur Socho, Socho aur Becho". It means "Sell and learn, Learn and think, Think and sell". This is a great learning opportunity. I very much look forward to participate in Mandi.

                 But these alone were not the highlights of the class. In fact from the moment Prof. Prasad walked in, sat on the floor and implored us to do the same, there was a feeling that something here was different. We were told about the beauty of Mumbai's perpetual rains, the usefulness of sitting on the floor and progressively given shock therapies to get our minds thinking! While the constant hopping of medium between Hindi and English did prove to be quite a challenge (my Hindi being not that good), help from friends allowed me to hover through. 

                  In all, the class was thought provoking. My most important learning was “Doing is knowing”.

Notes:

[1] Newton's Cradle (shown in picture) is a device that demonstrates conservation of momentum and energy via a series of swinging spheres.