Complex Learning Through Simple Experiment

Here is my next experience with Prof. Mandi. He entered the class with some cubes and made all of sit again on the dais of floor. We all were wondering “what will be next now?” He distributed some cubes among the students of class giving them some kind of catch practice. Student have to build a tower with cubes by placing one on another.First, the students had to bid to get a chance to be a architect as well as maker of that tower. Bid included two things: Money and the no. of maximum blocks you can put together to raise a tower. If the person who wins the bid and is not able to make use of all the blocks, he claimed, will lose all the money. Money involved will be used to have chocolates for the whole class. First bid was for making tower of 22 blocks and bid for the next scenario was of tower of 8-10 blocks. Then Prof. Mandi said that it should be more than 22 blocks in any case without giving any further clarification over it. 

There were two scenario:

1)Single person has to built the tower by putting single block over another. He can use both his hands and can also see the block. Tower built was of 22 blocks.

2)Three persons has to co-ordinate among themselves and choose one as a CEO,other as manager and one as worker. Worker should be blind folded  and have to use his left hand for tower making.CEO just has to look after the job, manager has to guide the worker but they both cant even touch the tower. Amazing result came out of the activity. They a built tower of 25 blocks.

            Whole class was shocked looking after the result. Then Prof Mandi made us understand the basic difference between craft management and modern management and how the productivity increases in the later one.

            He said in the first scenario when person isn’t blind folded he has a power of thinking and taking his own decision that in turn increase his fear after a certain level of completion of task if situation is not going in his favour. It also make him indecisive at certain point of time. However in the second scenario , the worker don’t know anything about target set and couldn’t even see the progress. All he will get is appreciation in any way thereby increasing his performance and productivity in unfavourable situation as well.

Craft Management Worker     + Decision power

Modern Management Worker      - Decision power

            In modern management, decision power was taken from worker and given to Higher Management and work process get enlarged.

Work--> Job-->Activity-->Task-->Elements

                  WE NEED MANAGERS TO MANGE THIS CHAIN

Parameter	Craft Management	Modern Management
No. of people involved	1 person	> 1Person
Work	Work is ambiguous	Work is crystal clear
Division of Work	One person is loaded with the entire work.	The technical and the functional work are separated.
Skill	Skill	Deskill
Satisfaction	High	Less
Work Process	Small	Work Process get enlarged
Productivity Obtained	Low	High

            As the class progressed he also gave us an example of shoes made by a cobbler and an organization (e.g. Reebok, Nike, woodland etc) where people prefers the later one even if people knows that cobbler is expert on that. Here we can compare cobbler as craft management and organization as modern management (where lots of people are involved).

            So this is the end of our discussion for today, will b posting more as the class progresses.

            Till then enjoy yourself and happy reading ...goodbye..