Tower Building Exercise and Craftsmanship Vs Modern Management

Another interesting lecture of organization management that remind me memories of childhood activities I used to do that time. One of the favourite activities was building the tallest tower using wooden blocks amongst others but did not know that there was something related to management behind this also. Any external perturbation made the tower easily crumbled. Similar things happened in the class room also.

Prof. Mandi came in the class with the wooden blocks and asked “Who will build the tower”??

– Tower with the base of single block!! Here we got an idea that something interesting will happen again. Most of us raised their hand. Everybody was enthusiastic and energetic that time. Then he said Whoever will come has to pay Rs. 500 that is not refundable. One by one our enthusiasm wiped out. After all Rs. 500 is a big amount!! Finally a guy came forward and deposited Rs. 500 to class CR.. Dr. Mandi asked again to make a guess “How many blocks would he be able to use to build the tower”?? Everybody started throwing the numbers in the air 7,8,10,15.. I said 10 blocks!! The game began:

That guy used single block as base and started putting the blocks one over the other.. 1..2..3..4................16.. The count reached up to 16 and after putting 17th block tower tumbled. Something beyond the expectation happened.. something pedantic!!

Here I understood that never judge and intimidate any body just by the perception. Work done with proper planning and strategy always get accomplish. Mind with no disturbance work effectively.

Then,the second round of bidding for the position of worker, manager and CEO(Senior Management) started. Finally Three guys occupied the positions with respect to the amount paid. Higher position,Bigger amount!! They have also asked to perform the same task. CEO will give command to manager who in turn will give instruction to worker. Prof. Mandi asked the manager to make the worker blindfolded – Great Ruse in the task.. Then worker started building the tower as per the instruction given by the manager. 1..2..3..4..5..6..7.. and after putting 8^th block tower Collapsed. Bad performance.. Team of three failed against single person. Dr. Mandi asked the worker that what was going in his mind while performing the task. Worker said he was unable to understand the instructions given by manager because more than one instruction striking the same time that he could not interpreted. 

Practically it happen in most of the organizations that unnecessarily borne havoc to workers and reduce their efficiency. If manager instructed him in a proper manner he could have performed better, better than that of single person. Here comes the concept of modern management.

The first case that discussed above is nothing but related to craftsmanship where there is no organization management as it belong to the single person. Single person who set the goal, do planning and make strategy to accomplish the defined objective. Single person act as worker as well as Boss. No work can be done in parallel.

The second case was related to modern management where each person work according to the task assigned to them. Work can be done in parallel to others because complete work is converted into different processes and each process is done by the individual worker hence reduce the overhead and make the picture more clear. By De-skilling , management reduce the overhead of single worker and assigned it to all to intensify the efficiency of worker.

In this way management increase the inter-dependency amongst workers and make the environment competitive.

That's all for now..

Keep Reading !!

Principles of Organisation and Management

This was the second lecture by prof. Mandi in which he taught us the concept of Theory X and Theory Y. Every time it's not necessary that X and Y are used to understand either mathematical concepts or biological concepts, they could be used in management principles also.These two theories X and Y are related to the Managers and their behaviour, observation and perception towards the employees of the organization.

Theory X comprises the information about the managers who think that workers dislike the work and avoid if they can. Pushing them to do the work with the threat to achieve the goals of an organization. Management believe that workers need to be supervised.

Theory Y comprises the information about the managers who think that workers enjoy the work naturally. They think workers are self-motivated, ambitious, deterministic and self controlled.

Management believe that workers know their responsibility towards the organization and will work well under the right conditions.

These two theories are like two opposite sides of a single coin – Both are related to the management only but differ in meaning.

Let's elucidate it further and have a look:

1). Theory X Manager assume LAZY workers as LAZY and make them work.

In this case as workers dislike their work and management push them to let the work done. Without goal clarity and lack of proper strategy which leads dissatisfaction amongst workers and borne havoc between management and workers. Workers are coerced by the management to accomplish the objective. That's the story in most of the organizations.

2). Theory X Manager assume NOT LAZY workers as NOT LAZY and make them work.

In this case workers like their work, enjoy it and self-motivated to accomplish the goal effectively under the given deadline but manager still don't have confidence on workers and keep an eagle eye to monitor each and every activity of the workers. Manager supervise them according to his/her perception not by the observation which in turn vitiate the environment all around the workers and affect their emotions also. This will create lack of trust and pacify the self-motivation. This type of behaviour itself is unethical. It causes an exodus of ingenious,stellar and deft workers from the organization. This type of management lead perdition to the organization.

I would like to share my experience with this type of management as an example:

In my company, during that tenure of working I was supervised by the two different managers.

The first manager is the best and only example that I could correlate with this theory X. I have always done the assigned work prior to the deadlines but it did not make any difference to her. She did not even appreciate my work once. She always kept a note of my In time without bothering Out time. There was no sovereignty to apply my own ideas while working. This kind of management actually kill the prowess of being self-motivated and self-controlled. There is no trust between the management and workers which is imperative in an organization management.

3). Theory Y Manager assume LAZY workers as LAZY and make them work.

In this case, workers are lazy and Manager think workers are good. Even though workers dislike the work but manager motivate them, build trust on each other and try every possible alternative which satisfy the workers. Manager provide incentives,appreciation and reward them for the work being done. The management which follow theory Y gives more satisfaction to the workers in the organization in contrast to theory X. This attitude of management shape the organization and expedite its growth.

4). Theory Y Manager assume NOT LAZY  workers as NOT LAZY  and make them work.

In this case, workers like the work and enjoy it. Manager understand that workers are dedicated to the work and do everything as expected without continuous supervision. The propensity of workers towards the work make the relationship with management stronger period by period. As workers know their responsibility, they do not provide any space for ramification of errors which affect the organization growth. This is the ideal case of management which should be adopted by management in all the organization.

Again I would like to share my experience as an example:

My second manager was the one who belong to theory Y. “To be a good manager one has to be a good human being first.” I really enjoyed working with him.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6qm_3saEo7o

I, as a manager will definitely follow theory Y because it will bring out the best of all because this theory Y helps in maintaining a structured organization.

The Beginning of New Era !!

Finally the day has come.. The D-day!! The day of my new peregrination which will make my dreams come true. What a start for the first day!! Monsoon weather of mumbai intensified my excitement.

It was raining!! What a welcome in the god's own campus, NITIE.. where I felt the same sovereignty what I feel at my own place. That was something which i have never envisaged.

I was sitting in lecture room waiting for the professor, suddenly a person entered into the room.

A true Gentleman.. Prof T. Prasad (Dr. Mandi).. One who taught us who we are, what can we do and how..Initially I was quite baffled by the activities happening in the class. He gave us some toys and asked us to play with them. I have never attended the classes like that before. Each toy has its own technical funda's.. That was something stellar. What a way of teaching.. He gave us the concept of earning while learning. He told us what should we focus on. He created an environment in which everybody was lost. Smiling faces were all around.. He believe in doing the things and that's what we learned from him.. He allowed us to think big as sky itself is not a limit.. A generous and supportive voice was waving around everybody. We have to emerge as the powerful one's in the industry or wherever we go, whatever we do. He realized us that we are the future brands and will rule the industry. To be successful in life, what we have to do is just “Think, Apply, Earn”.. His self created slogan-'' Socho Becho, Becho Sikho, Sikho Socho..'' has its own important meaning in life.. i.e. Whatever you think, apply it, sell it.. - That's the way of learning which in turn will help in earning..

All in All, it was a great learning and something more is still there as its a long way to go..Soon will learn the concepts of Organization management with more fun, more dedication and i will keep the direction of this "Knowledge Radar" omni-directional.. i.e Every Where for Every Body!!

Feeling blessed!!