A Video presentation on POM

Hi All,

The first module at NITIE is over and it has been an amazing experience. I have created a video narrating my experiences during the POM course.
Kindly take a look and share your invaluable feedback through comments on youtube or on this post. Kindly note, the video can be viewed in HD also.

Till next time.
Pratik.

Team Dynamics and Conflict Resolution: Monks show the way

Dr Mandi surprised us, as has now become routine, with a lecture on Team Dynamics and Strategy by using an old cartoon video of 3 Monks and a peculiar problem that they tackle.

Again, let me allow the video to do all the talking :

IMPORTANT: If you are reading this line, and haven't seen the video, I would strongly recommend reading no further. The video is a classic in itself and very easy to follow. The concepts and lessons listed below would remain incomplete if they are perused without seeing the video.

About the Film
The story of the three Buddhist Monks is an anime film directed by A Da.

Three Monks at its simplest interpretation espouses the virtues of teamwork. While teamwork is an important lesson, it alone seems not to be the driving force behind the plot.

More about the film can be read here : Three Monks

Key Lessons

Dr Mandi used the video to illustrate some key management concepts. These included:

Productivity and Team Work -> It is a measure of how well an operations system functions. We are familiar with the equation, 

Excellence = Efficiency X Effectiveness

The video very adeptly highlights the concepts of productivity and how it varies with the number of people involved and the nature of the situation.

The video shows us the flip side of teams. Managers need to understand the negatives of having an unbalanced team. As can be seen from this video, as the number of monks increase the efficiency and productivity go down. 

Epilogue

The video ends on a positive note. The concept of SYNERGY can be seen when the three monks come together and achieve productivity levels that are much above the sum of their individual productiveness.

The video serves as a simple yet highly effective learning experience with a plethora of lessons interspersed in it.

Thank you Dr Mandi.

Till next time. 

Valley Crossing ... Team work and a lot more.

A picture speaks more than a 1000 words they say. Well, a video speaks even more. So let me first share a video made by our senior batch (IM18) of when they went through this exercise in their POM class. Conducted by who else...Dr Mandi.

Valley Crossing, is an exciting simulation used by Dr Mandi to illustrate the concepts of effective team work and strategy. Let me share an image to begin explaining what the exercise is all about.

The task appears fairly straight forward (it actually isn't). Three co-workers with the help of a plank need to crossover from one side to another of a bottomless pit. The width is greater than one standard walking step  and less than two steps (this is a crucial dimension that makes the task feasible).

Following image depicts the strategy employed to accomplish the task:

Description of the key used:

Safe: Both legs on the ground

Half Risky: One leg on the ground and the other over the pit

Risky: Both legs over the pit

Key Lessons learnt from the exercise:

Trust

A key enabler of success in such exercises is the trust between the participants. In organizations, where teams are much bigger, and tasks much more complex, the TRUST  between team members and the between various teams becomes a key deciding factor towards success.

Communication

Whenever there are teams involved in accomplishing a task the importance of communication is implicit. The effectiveness of communication between the various stakeholders defines the levels of success that are achieved. Measuring and continuously enhancing communication channels and processes is a key focus area for businesses today.

Support systems and strategies

An important focus areas for organisation, that this exercise very effectively illustrated, is the importance of robust support systems and strategies.

Epilogue:

This was one of the most memorable classes of our first module here at NITIE. The prime reason being the potential lessons that were embedded in an exercise so basic. It is evident that when unmystified, management is learnt not through jargons and powerpoint presentations but through such practical and engaging exercises.

Thank you Dr Mandi for exposing us to this concept.

Till next time.

Theory X and Theory Y : An Insight

Theory X and Theory Y are theories of human motivation created and developed by Douglas McGregor at the MIT Sloan School of Management in the 1960s that have been used in human resource management, organizational behavior, organizational communication and organizational development. They describe two contrasting models of workforce motivation.
Theory X and Theory Y have to do with the perceptions managers hold on their employees, not the way they generally behave. It is attitude not attributes.

McGregor developed two theories of human behaviour at work: Theory and X and Theory Y.
He did not imply that workers would be one type or the other. Rather, he saw the two theories as two extremes - with a whole spectrum of possible behaviours in between.


Theory X workers could be described as follows:
- Individuals who dislike work and avoid it where possible
- Individuals who lack ambition, dislike responsibility and prefer to be led
- Individuals who desire security


The management implications for Theory X workers were that, to achieve organisational objectives, a business would need to impose a management system of coercion, control and punishment.


Theory Y workers were characterised by McGregor as:
- Consider effort at work as just like rest or play
- Ordinary people who do not dislike work. Depending on the working conditions, work could be considered a source of satisfaction or punishment
- Individuals who seek responsibility (if they are motivated0


The management implications for Theory X workers are that, to achieve organisational objectives, rewards of varying kinds are likely to be the most popular motivator. The challenge for management with Theory Y workers is to create a working environment (or culture) where workers can show and develop their creativity.


Want to know under which Theory do you belong?
Head over to Theory X or Theory Y ?

Khan Academy : The Education Revolution

165,818,518 lessons delivered. Not a single penny charged. This is education redefined. This is the revolution that Khan Academy has brought about. "Providing a high quality education to anyone, anywhere" is the mission statement of KhanAcademy.org

What is Khan Academy?
The Khan Academy is a not-for-profit organization which strives to provide high quality education in multiple streams of study without charging for it. The website is a repository of lessons from areas of Math, Science, Finance & Economics, Humanities, etc.

Khan Academy is the brain child of Salman Khan who is a graduate from MIT and an MBA from Harvard Business School. He quit his job as a hedge analyst to begin Khan Academy in 2006. In April 2012, Salman Khan was listed among the Time 100 Most Influential People for 2012. “Salman Khan is a true education pioneer. He started by posting a math lesson, but his impact on education might truly be incalculable”, writes Bill Gates in TIME magazine.

Salman Khan at TED.

The web site presently has over 3200 tutorial videos and has delivered over 165 million lessons.
Khan Academy is backed by the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation and by Google. They also receive donations which help the site invest further in enriching the learning experience. Bill Gates once said about Khan Academy, " I'd say we've moved about 160 IQ points from the Hedge Funds category to the teaching-many-people-in-a-leveraged-way-category"

The People who make it all happen




From Left to Right: Salman Khan [Sal], Jason, Ben, Bilal, and Shantanu.
The rest of the team can be seen here: The Team

But, How do they make ends meet?
There isn't a single ad anywhere on the website. This philanthropic effort is run solely by donations and sponsorship. The Bill and Melinda Gates foundation, Google, O'Sullivan are the biggest donors. The website has reported that they receive many generous contributions of over 10000 USD. The organization invests the entire sum in making the experience of the learners better. The site is extremely user friendly and is a treasure trove of knowledge and information that would whet the appetite of everyone from a high school student to an adult returning to studies after a decades gap.

Epilogue
There a lot many lessons to be learnt from the initiative that is Khan Academy. The lessons are far ranging too. The sheer will power that Sal would have needed to quit a high paying job to start Khan Academy. The level of commitment that the team shows by putting so much content on the site and by designing the site keeping the focus on the end user. Doing all this without charging a penny.
A not-for-profit it may be and yet it is a highly sustainable enterprise that has earned the people running it tons of good will. With generous contributions from the society and with the intent of making knowledge accessible to the millions across the globe, Khan Academy is pioneering a paradigm shift in the education systems across the globe.

Pink Floyd, Goal Setting, and Tower of wooden cubes...

Week 1 at NITIE is over. One of the highlights of the week was the POM session that happened mid week. A lecture unlike any I have attended in my life. It was a Wednesday morning unlike any other and when Dr Mandi walked in I wasn't aware of how awesome the day was going to turn out to be. A discussion on Pink Floyd's 'Another Brick in the Wall' began. I was all ears now. Why shouldn't I have been? 'Shine on you crazy Diamond', 'Another brick in the wall' [all versions], etc are songs that have carried me through BE and through some of the toughest days of my professional life.

After a video presentation of the legendary song, a discussion ensued on the present education system and pedagogy, and how they tend to stifle creativity and lateral thinking. Post this we were informed about MANDI, an annual event at NITIE, which involves students hitting the streets of Mumbai and trying to sell educational toys made by a collaborating NGO. A video presentation followed. We also became familiar with the concept of  "Aaj ki Roti, Aaj hi kamana" which translates to "Earn your daily bread". Using the cost of attendance of our PGDIM course as an example we were made aware of the possibility of recovering the entire amount while still at school. Two hours had flown by, and we were left chanting what is now going to be our mantra for the next 2 years and beyond, "Socho Becho, Becho Seekho, Seekho Socho". It means "Think and Sell, Learn as you Sell, Think over what you learn".


Another key learning from the class came from the toys that Dr Mandi brought to class. Toys made of straw that could reinvent teaching of algebra, and some made from wood, bought from the streets, that would change how we look at Physics.

The post lunch session continued from where the first one had left off. This session was to be more formal than the first one, but no less enriching. There were several key concepts of Organizations and Management illustrated in this class.

Starting an organization requires guts, and the desire to invest. This investment is not limited to being monetary. It is not possible to make money if one shies away from taking risks and form investing time, money, and efforts. This was illustrated using a bidding session. And what were we bidding for? The opportunity to participate in a game. Truth be told, as there was money involved no many of us were too keen. Those who were started loosing interest as the amounts increased. In the end, only 3 of us remained in the auction and got the opportunity to participate.

The Task
To build a tower with wooden cubes, tiny wooden cubes. The tower would have a base of a single cube and  a height that the participants had to set. The senior batch had apparently built a tower of 17 blocks. There would be three participants. The person who would place the blocks would be blind folded and use his/her unseasoned hand. A second person would act as the builders eyes by giving verbal cues. The third person would be a silent observer allowed to intervene only for a fixed number of times. These three would represent three levels of the hierarchy that is usually found in the industry. The worker, The Supervisor, and the Top management.

Key Lessons:

1. Goal Setting. When asked to write down the height of the tower that we would be able to erect, most of us came up with guesses which had little or no basis. Eventually, even our participants chose a target on the basis of what the seniors had achieved. Goal Setting is a crucial aspect of management. The concept of SMART goals was introduced. SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Time-bound.
2. It's all about Teams. In hindsight, the tower could never have been built and made to stand erect had it not been for the team work shown by he participants. A key lesson here was in team dynamics. How teams interact became clear as the tower started reaching substantial heights. The manner in which a supervisor would take care of the the workers needs, and the anxiety of the top management when the workers start showing fatigue and signs of giving up. These are scenarios that organizations face daily and how effectively these dynamics are tackled is what defines how successful the organization becomes.
3. Communication is the key. As we watched the trio battle it out to erect the tower, the importance of clear and unhindered communication become clear to us. For Organizations to function optimally having proper channels of communication is of paramount importance.
4. Empathy vs Sympathy. As the tower grew, physical and mental fatigue began setting in for the student building it. At these moments, the concern of the supervisor and the management became prominent. Together they did their best to comfort and motivate the worker...Offering him a chair, a drink, intermediate rest, and towards the end, even swapping roles. A key lesson here was that of empathy towards colleagues and subordinates.

Epilogue:

It was after a long time that I experienced something for the first time. An alternative methodology to teaching. It was the difference between being trained and being educated. The task (which lasted well over an hour) provided deep yet simple insights into the functioning of organizations at a micro level. The session provided a glimpse of some of the challenges that are encountered during project execution and the roles that  various employees play.

After seen first hand the workings of the IT industry (for a little over 29 months), I was able to draw parallels between the lessons learnt during the class and the situations that I had faced/encountered/observed at my workplace.

Beginning B-School is an exciting phase of my life and sessions like these have led to an increase in my enthusiasm levels as I can now see the potential value additions that are in stored. Thank you Dr Mandi. Looking forward to the next class.

To others who are either fellow students or casual bloggers who happened to land up here by chance, the objective of this blog is to chronicle my journey through the POM (Principles of Organization and Management) course of Module-1 PGDIM at NITIE, Powai. Feel free to share your opinions and criticisms.