Three Monks:Unravelling the Management Lessons

Three Monks is a Chinese animated feature film.The film is based on the ancient Chinese proverb "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".Click the video below to watch the short movie.

 The Plot is as follows.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 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

.Dr Mandi asked us the key learning's that  we had from the movie.Well we were all geared up as we expected this question to come eventually.The major issue that came up was the ego of the monks that caused enmity amongst them.But Dr Mandi urged us to look beyond the human factors as it is not easy to change humans but processes can be improved.The case of the three monks can be visualized by looking at each of the monks and their approach individually.

                                            Case of the First Monk

First Monk

• When the first monk was alone he was carrying the buckets of water each day efficiently.
• He was also watering the plant which the deity was holding in his hand.
• He was also praying along with carrying out these chores.  
• It involved a lot of effort.

                                            Case of  Two Monks

• When the second monk came the first monk stopped bringing water and asked the new monk to fetch water.
• After few days they both started fighting over the issue of bringing water.
• They decided to change their approach to as shown in the picture.So instead of two buckets they brought only one.They also fought each other by pushing the bucket along the stick so as to reduce their weight.
• Gradually they agreed to mark a point in between on the stick with a scale so that  load get shared equally.
• Though output was less but there was reduction in effort.

                                               Three Monks 

• Initially they made the third monk to fill the water but soon third monk realized that he is the only one doing the work, so he stopped working.Things came to a standstill.

• The first monk even drank the water from the pot in the deity's hand to quench his thirst.This shows loss of character in the time of adversity 

   

                            

                           Three monks in the crisis.

   They were caught in a fiery inferno and they worked together to came out of this problem by devising a new way of pulling bucket through a pulley system and working as a team by setting out their differences.

   

   

   

                              Key Leanings from Movie 

  • Cooperation: It is the process of working or acting together. In its simplest form it involves things working in harmony.

  • Process Improvement:Don't try to change the human aspect .Always try to improve the process.There is always a better way.

  • Synergy and Team Work:It is the interaction of multiple elements in a system to produce an effect different from or greater than the sum of their individual effects. 

    

     

   

Setting SMART Goals

Goals define the purpose toward which an endeavor is directed.Napoleon Hill  once stated that "A goal is a dream with a deadline".Dr Mandi put this thought in us by laying down the foundation of SMART goals into our nimble minds.Goal setting is the foremost requirement for any progress in any organization.Without goals there will be nothing to accomplish.Goal setting is a powerful process for thinking about your ideal future, and for motivating yourself to turn your vision of this future into reality.But Dr Mandi pointed out that goals should be SMART.

 The Goal Setting process should  be like the Fibonacci spiral which should be increasing arithmetically with feedback of past to challenge the future. .One must never set substandard goals and always try to reach the zenith of one's potential.We are all destined for greatness.

After the foray into the uncharted territory of SMART goals we entered the doorway of PYGMALION effect by the entrance of Greek Mythology.Pygmalion was a very talented sculptor in ancient Greece who loved his work, and would spend hours carving beautiful ivory statues.One day, he chose a large, beautiful piece of ivory, and worked diligently at it, chiseling and hammering until he finished. It was a statue of a beautiful lady. Pygmalion thought it was so beautiful, he clothed the figure, gave it jewels, and named it Galatea (sleeping love). Pygmalion went to the temple of Aphrodite (Venus), the goddess of love and beauty to pray for a wife just like the statue in his home. During the Aphrodite feast, thanks to Pygmalion`s prayers, the sculpture turned into a real person. This was called The Pygmalion effect.

Thus Pygmalion is the phenomenon in which the greater the expectation placed upon people, the better they perform.

 

 Finally Dr Mandi discussed POSDCORB which  is an acronym widely used in the field of Management.

Thus Goal setting is the prime process which should be done very smartly to maximize the productivity.