POM Class 6

“The achievements of an organization are the results of the combined effort of each individual.” ---Vince Lombardi

          Magnets are fascinating things. Every time we see a magnet we are tempted to plat with it. It was therefore a pleasant surprise to see Prof.Mandi walking into class with a chunk of magnet and ask us, “Why does a magnet attract?”. After many botched attempts by us at giving a good answer, one person in the class was finally able to say the right ward – Alignment.

          A Magnet has its power because it can align innate magnetic forces in metallic atoms. So, magnets (or Physics for that matter) align natural forces . A Manager aligns human forces to get work done. In effect an organization is a force that is aligned. The bigger or better an organization, the more perfectly it is aligned.

          Managers align people and power. They align tasks and objective. They synchronize both time and space. Management is Music, not noise. It is like the conductor of grand orchestra, where each instrument contributes to harmonious music. So here we come to a very important management lesson – Management by Objective.

         Management by objectives (MBO) is a process of defining objectives within an organization so that management and employees agree to the objectives and understand what they need to do in the organization in order to achieve them. The term "management by objectives" was popularized by Peter Drucker in his 1954 book The Practice of Management.

         The essence of MBO is participative goal setting, choosing course of actions and decision making. An important part of the MBO is the measurement and the comparison of the employee’s actual performance with the standards set. Ideally, when employees themselves have been involved with the goal setting and choosing the course of action to be followed by them, they are more likely to fulfil their responsibilities.

         For greater clarity on the topic we compared two different styles of management we had previously studied in class – the blindfolded tower building and the three monk collaborative water collection. The major lessons we drew could be summarised in the table shown below.

	Blind Tower Building	Three Monk Collaboration
1.	Hierarchical set-up	No Hierarchy
2.	Control with Top Management	Consensus among all
3.	Management Present	Management absent and replaced by autonomous management/ maintenance
4.	Control Mechanism	Consensus Mechanism
5.	Loading is High and Low	Loading is more or less equal

          We ended our discussion by comparing two Indian Sporting giants and understanding why they were unable to cooperate and work. We concluded that the main reason was a skill set mismatch. Multiple skills COULD come as a disadvantage as the ability to exercise choice comes into the picture. Management should figure out which all skills to hone & nurture and which all to get rid of or discourage.

          The most important take away in today's class is – without any doubt – the concept of MANAGEMENT BY OBJECTIVE.

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.

POM Class 4

In George Bernard Shaw’s play Pygmalion (named after the Greek mythological character), Eliza Doolittle explains:

“You see, really and truly, apart from the things anyone can pick up (the dressing and the proper way of speaking, and so on), the difference between a lady and a flower girl is not how she behaves but how she’s treated. I shall always be a flower girl to Professor Higgins because he always treats me as a flower girl and always will; but I know I can be a lady to you because you always treat me as a lady and always will.”

Bernard Shaw's play Pygmalion

The greatest takeaway from today's class was the Pygmalion Effect. What is the Pygmalion Effect?  It suggests  that the success of their employees depends not only on qualification, personal qualities or working environment. Manager always has to believe in his people and expect them to achieve the best results. In such case the subordinates will always feel this trust and demonstrate their best skills and abilities in their work. The Pygmalion effect is also an important instrument in management theory.

Some managers always treat their subordinates in a way that leads to superior performance. But most managers (like Professor Higgins from Bernard Shaw's play) unintentionally treat their subordinates in a way that leads to lower performance than they are capable of achieving. The way managers treat their subordinates is subtly influenced by what they expect of them. If managers’ expectations are high, productivity is likely to be excellent. If their expectations are low, productivity is likely to be poor. It is as though there were a law that caused subordinates’ performance to rise or fall to meet managers’ expectations.

Fibonacci Spiral

            We could say that the Pygmalion Effect is a self fulfilling prophecy. A positive spiral improves our performance every iteration it take. It will expand our horizons and allow us the reach new heights much like Fibonacci Spiral.





Goals and SMART Goals:

"When it is obvious that the goals cannot be reached, don't adjust the goals, adjust the action steps."  ---- Confucius


The second most important takeaway was about GOALS. Goals are what make an organization move. It is the focal point which allows an organization to converge and do something great. An organization without a goal is like a person without a head. Its like a ship without a captain.

The primary objective of the management of any organization is to set goals. But goal setting isn't as easy as most people think it to be. There are various tools and techniques we could use to set effective goals. The most common of all these techniques is the SMART goal. This we discussed in class in great detail.

    

So, What are SMART goals? There are:

1) Specific:
Goal should be clear, unambiguous and to the point. It should be without vagaries or platitudes. The team must be told exactly what is expected, why is it important, who’s involved, where is it going to happen and which all attributes are important.

2) Measurable:
There should be a tangible criteria for measuring progress being made towards achieving a goal. Measuring progress helps a team stay on track and hit the required targets.

3) Achievable:
Goals should be realistic and attainable. While an attainable goal may stretch a team in order to achieve it, the goal is not extreme. Impossible goals can seriously demoralize the team and lead to extremely inefficient outputs. It will also do lasting damage to the organization.

4) Relevant:
Choosing goals that matter. Only goals that are relevant to the organization would receive the necessary momentum to go through to completion. Relevant goals when achieve bring positive output for the organization and inspires teams to do even better.

5) Time-bound:
And finally, Goals MUST be time bound. Goals achieved very late are not achievements at all. They are negative and drive down both credibility and business. This part of the SMART goal criteria is intended to prevent goals from being overtaken by the day-to-day crises that invariably arise in organizations. A time-bound goal is intended to establish a sense of urgency and importance.

So to sum up, my two great takeaway were : (a)The Pygmalion Effect and (b) The importance of SMART Goals. Awaiting more classes!!!!

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.