Learning Management from 3-Idiots: The Practical way !

I have seen and done many case studies in almost all my management subjects, but no other case study has left me with as much practical learning as the “3-idiots crossing the valley” case by our beloved Dr. Mandi. This exercise as illustrated below, focuses on TEAMWORK and roles each one of us plays in a team. Lets talk about teamwork first:

Everybody knows that teamwork is one of the major foundations to success. There is a limit to where one can reach on his own. The beauty of teamwork is that a goal can be reached faster, more efficiently, and the skill sets of each team member can be fully utilized. Let me illustrate this by a story :

The Goose Story !

When you see geese flying along in “V” formation, you might consider what science has discovered as to why they fly that way. As each bird flaps its wings, it creates an uplift for the bird immediately following. By flying in “V” formation, the whole flock adds at least 71 percent greater flying range than if each bird flew on its own. People who share a common direction and sense of community can get where they are going more quickly and easily because they are traveling on the thrust of one another.

When a goose falls out of formation, it suddenly feels the drag and resistance of trying to go it alone — and quickly gets back into formation to take advantage of the lifting power of the bird in front. If we have as much sense as a goose, we will stay in formation with those people who are headed the same way we are.

When the head goose gets tired, it rotates back in the wing and another goose flies point. It is sensible to take turns doing demanding jobs, whether with people or with geese flying south. Geese honk from behind to encourage those up front to keep up their speed.

What messages do we give when we honk from behind? Finally — and this is important — when a goose gets sick or is wounded by gunshot, and falls out of formation, two other geese fall out with that goose and follow it down to lend help and protection. They stay with the fallen goose until it is able to fly or until it dies, and only then do they launch out on their own, or with another formation to catch up with their group.

So, learning from the story, a team member must do the following:

· Participate
· Keep the common goal in mind
· Be open-minded
· Be clear about his/her role
· Help your teammates and your leader
· Don't be the dominating one
· Support your leader
· Don't forget to have fun!

Now coming back to the Valley crossing exercise. It is an 8 step process where 3 people cross a valley with the support of a straight pole. And as a manager we had to come up with a plan to make it possible. Let us understand the essence of this exercise first by looking at this picture: 

3-Idiots Crossing the Valley

Some of my friends volunteered for this exercise. We saw that all of them were able to cross the valley without much trouble. At each point of time when one of the team member was in trouble (crossing the valley), the other 2 team members supported the one at risk. As a manager, the following planning needs to be done while carrying out the exercise:

- Technical arrangements needed - Strength of the pole, creating the markings on the pole to help the persons to know where to catch the pole

- Tasks and roles - Three people take variety of roles as they cross the valley. They change their roles in tandem with given accuracy.

- People Competencies that are needed - Skill and competencies than the will and way to do.

- Training inputs that are needed - Physical drill, Cooperation and coordination, Motivating the people with right kind of slogans

Prof Mandi explaining how the exercise needs to be done

The management principles which I learnt doing this exercise are:

a) ) Synchronization & Standardization: The feet movements of each person must be synchronized and standardized. That is how industries work. All the efforts of the team members must be in perfect sync for the achievement of the common goal.

b)Load Distribution: This activity involves sharing of the load among the 3 members. This is the same scenario we face in the corporate world where load needs to be shared among the team members working towards a common goal. The roles and responsibilities have to be divided among the members by the manager. Hence the task of the manager is very critical because that will drive the final output, the project and indirectly the organization as a whole.

Performing the task

                       
c) Simplicity in Design: The design of this example is very elementary but of profound significance as we are seeing via discussion of these principles. This is how the design should be done in industry also - keep the design as simple as possible and work towards its implementation.

d) Efficiency: Usage of minimum resources: Minimum amount of resources with minimal wastage forms the core of management. In the market, scarcity of resources is always there and one should always try to minimize the resources. Then only management is actually successful and drive itself towards excellence.

e) Watch out for the weakest link: As we observed, the role of each person in this exercise is interdependent on the other person roles. So, a team is as strong as its weakest link and hence the manager must always watch it carefully. 

In the end to sum it all up, it was a real learning session for all of us. I’m a firm believer that practical learning (i.e. the ability to do something) is just as important as academic learning (i.e. knowledge about something) and this exercise does just that.

"Explore the possibilities, make a choice, and work actively towards your goal, Practical learning will enrich your life in ways you never imagined"