Three Chinese Monks and their teachings to us!

Three Monks is a Chinese animated feature film  produced by the Shanghai Animation Film Studio. It is also referred to as The Three Buddhist Priests. When the movie starts a note appears in which first column states "one monk fetches water to drink", the second column reads "two monks carry water to drink" and the third one just states, "three monks". To get a better understanding first let uThe movie can be divided into 3 parts:

1. When only one monk is there - We can see that when the monk was alone he used to do the work alone i.e. bringing the water from the river to the monastery happily. He had no qualms with the way things were moving. In other words he was content with the life he was living or the work he was doing.

2. When another monk joins the first one - The attitude of the first monk changes drastically when the second monk joins him in the monastery. Initially he intimidated him into bringing water from the river but after some time the new monk demand equal distribution of work. This altercation resulted in loss of man hours as well as gloomy atmosphere in the monastery. After lot of deliberation, they decide to share the responsibility and once they started sharing the job, their productivity also increased. We can see that the method adopted in this case is much better then used in the previous one.

3. When the third monk joins the other two - Initially the same thing happened wherein the veterans forced the newcomer into work. After sometime it was total chaos in the monastery with none of the monks willing to go to the river to get the water. One fine day when fire breaks in the monastery then all the three monks work together in tandem thereby giving fruitful results. After this, all the 3 monks learned a lesson and then devised an efficient and productive method to get water using the pulley. The method in this case is superior to the methods used in case 1 and case 2 as it involves proper utilization of all the resources.

Learning

The movie teaches us a lot of managerial lessons. Here are a few of them that I could comprehend:

1. Team work - The work which could have been done very easily had they worked as team took a toll on them. As we have seen in case of emergency (monastery catching fire), they worked as a team and got the desired results very easily. The manager has to ensure that the employees are working in a team, individuality hinders the progress of a firm. Team work can do wonders.

2. Job distribution - The situation can be compared to an organisation which has all the resources in the world but is not able to utilise them properly. In the movie even with three monks (resources), water (end result)  was scarce in the monastery. It is responsibility of the manager to utilise the resources provided to him optimally. As we can see in the end the monks divide the job and get the desired result very effectively and easily.
Like in a football team, to win a match, the job is divided and every player is assigned his specific role.

3. Innovation - There are two ways of completing a job, one is monotonous conventional method which every body follows and the other one being innovative method. In the movie the monks could have very well adopted conventional approach (three monks standing at regular intervals) to get the water, but it would have been very tiresome as well as time consuming. Thus they went for innovative idea of placing a pulley thereby reducing the mechanical effort one has to put which in turn increased their productivity. In a company the manager should be a Theory Y manager, always pushing the employees for new ideas, always having faith in the man power assigned to him. If the manager backs the employee then only employee can come out with a new and innovative idea. Innovation can be continuous (over a period of time), can be drastic (out of the exigency). The one which we had seen in the movie is drastic. But we should always aim for continuous innovation. If the innovation is continuous then it will be flawless because sufficient amount of time and thought process would have invested in that idea, whereas drastic innovations arises out of the emergency situation. 

4. Crisis management - In the movie when the temple catches fire all the three monks work together as a team and get out of the crisis situation. There are times when people lose their cool during emergencies. A manager must always keep a clam composure no matter what the situation is. In case of emergency, the manager should adopt a rationale thinking in getting the team of the emergency situation. He should be in a position to assign different employees in different roles so as to counter the exigencies.

An organisation can flourish only if it has cordial atmosphere as well as convivial employees. If the manager is able to bind the team together jovially, there is no stopping the company. In the movie the same set of people were fighting against each other but circumstances changed them and the same set of people started working together and with increased productivity. The manager in a company must ensure that the employees are not dependent on emergency situation to come together and work as a team, they should work in coordination from the moment they join the team.

5. Productivity - The film clearly depicts how productivity increases when the work load is shared effectively by more people. When the 2nd monk joins in, and the two monks together get 1 bucket of water, the productivity increases. Further, when the 3 monks together devise a method to get water using the pulley, the productivity increases manifolds.

3 Monkeys Crossing the Bridge or a team crossing the bridge?

Why do we need team work? A simple activity of crossing a valley can be done the way monkeys do it or in a way, civilised human beings are expected to do as team. Let us see how:

Monkeys Crossing the Valley

Team – Crossing the Valley!!!             

What  is TeamWork?

The process of working together with a group of people in order to achieve a goal.The team work is often a crucial part of a business as it is often necessary for colleagues to work well together, trying for the best in any circumstances. Team work often means people will try to cooperate, using their individual skills and providing constructive feedbacks, despite any personal conflicts between the individual.

'Teamwork’ and requires the most complex co-ordination between team players.

Why have teamwork ?

Team work is important because it helps us synergize, it compliment sour individual weakness, it does help in productivity and it helps one build new and better skills. Well its one thing to create a team but quite different  to create teamwork in the workplace.

To put it in simple words, a team doesn’t work without teamwork.

Description of Activity:

The activity consists of three individuals, connected only by a pole, attempting to cross a valley.

The activity has three people who are given a long rod which is carried by them on their shoulders, and then they have to cross a small crater as a group. There each person gets to be in motion for a few seconds without using their legs. The burden of the person in air is borne by the other two participants.

If we consider each of the idiots crossing the valley as /\ , we can see that the following scenarios are obtained :

Thus, we see that in the above case three situations arrive, 

                                      one where the person is fully safe denoted by --.-.-

                                       one where the person is half safe denoted by------

         and one where the person is taking a dangerous step, denoted by        

The Scenario:

Step-1	All three are safe
Step-2	Front one is Half safe. Middle and Last one is fully  safe
Step-3	Front one is Fully Risky; Middle one and Last one is Fully SAFE
Step-4	Front one and middle one are HALF RISKY; Rear one is SAFE
Step-5	Front one SAFE: Middle one is Fully Risky; Last one is SAFE.
Step-6	Front one SAFE; Middle and Last one is Half Safe
Step-7	Front one and Middle ones are Fully Safe; Last one is Fully Risky
Step-8	Front and Middle one is safe; Last one is half risky
Step-9	All three are Safe

We have the following observations and learnings to make:-

1)    Structuring the Task  and roles in a Team:

1.       Role of First Person = Role of second Person = Role of Third person : No differentiation  was done in designing the team tasks. Nobody was overloaded or relaxed.

2.       All  3 members’ tasks  were designed to be - Easy, Lighter, Clear and Systematic.

3.       3 team members are equally responsible in their contributions for the overall task completion

4.       All three members have equal distribution of different kinds of situation :

      High Risk 01 times

      Half Risks 02 times

      Fully Safe 02 times

5.   Communication and feedback is essential while working in a team.

6.   Every member is indispensable in completing the task.

7.   There were equal instances when one needed each other.

2)Team Excellence:

Team excellence comes by proper designing of team tasks, team roles, preparation and execution of the tasks. Excellence is DESIGNED by the managers.

The  Eight Characteristics of Highly Effective Teams include:

1)      Clear, Elevating Goal

2)      Results-Driven Structure

3)      Competent Team Members

4)      Unified Commitment

5)      Collaborative Climate

6)      Standards of Excellence

7)      External Support and Recognition

8)      Leadership

Five Stages of team work

Pshychologist bruce teckman came up with five key stages through which team moves. They are

1.       Forming

2.       Storming

3.       Norming

4.       Performing

5.       Adjourning 

Conclusion:

Team Work is NOT 1+1= 2

Team work is

Theory X & Theory Y

Let the Learning Begin! Theory X & Theory Y

Kisne Chaalu kiya yeh sab?

Douglas McGregor's 1960 publication which highlighted the concepts of Theory X and Theory Y managers have forever been used to explain the art of motivation based on human behaviour. It encapsulated a fundamental distinction between the different management styles and is a valid basic principle from which to develop positive management style and techniques to propel organisations towards excellence.

Hei Kya yeh Cheez?

Organisations consist of employees and managers. The theory delves on the attitude and outlook of managers - the direction and growth of the organisation is in the hands of managers and it is solely their way of managing things which leads to proper motivation of the employees and in the process, achieve growth in the organisation.It is important to note here that Theory X and Theory Y looks into managerial psychology and their way of planning and running the organisation. Thus, it focuses on the class of managers and their behavioral attributes and attitude.

Theory X 

His Theory of Motivation states that there is a certain class of mangers who fall in the bracket of Theory X. In this theory management assumes employees are inherently lazy and will avoid work if they can. Because of this, workers need to be closely supervised and comprehensive systems of control put in place. A hierarchical structure is needed, with narrow span of control at each level, for effective management. According to this theory employees will show little ambition without an enticing incentive program and will avoid responsibility whenever they can.


The managers influenced by Theory X believe that everything must end in blaming someone. They think most employees are only out for themselves and their sole interest in the job is to earn money. They tend to blame employees in most situations, without questioning the systems, policy, or lack of training which could be the real cause of failures.

Theory Y 

Management influenced by this theory assumes that employees are ambitious, self-motivated, anxious to accept greater responsibility and exercise self-control, self-direction, autonomy and empowerment. Management believes that employees enjoy their work. They also believe that, given a chance, employees have the desire to be creative at their work place and become forward looking. There is a chance for greater productivity by giving employees the freedom to perform to the best of their abilities, without being bogged down by rules.


A Theory Y manager believes that, given the right conditions, most people will want to do well at work and that there is a pool of unused creativity in the workforce. They believe that the satisfaction of doing a good job is a strong motivation in itself. A Theory Y manager will try to remove the barriers that prevent workers from fully actualizing themselves.


The following diagram gives a clear explanation about Theory X and Theory Y managers: