Shoot,Shoot,Shoot and then Aim

At the last session, Dr. Mandi asked us whether anyone of us had worked on 3-D Printing machine. One of our classmate had a "Rapid Prototyping Machine" in his college and had worked on the same(was a part of his project).

3-D Printing is being talked around the world and has lot of advantages.The class also raised questions on the credibility and limitations of 3-D Printing.Dr. Mandi told us that never talk about limitations at the first place.Always try to utilize the advantages of the technology. Make business out of it.

When we love a girl ,do we talk about the parents or laws that could go against us.No.What we only think about is our relation with the girl.We think if this relation goes good,other things would rightly fall into places.

            In the same way,if we make the best use of technology or an idea,we can make business out of it.And then the other issues like laws,hindrances in the path would be easily taken care of.

With this 3-D Printer example,Dr. Mandi wanted us to realize that there are lot of sectors and fields where not much innovation or business is done.Sectors like education,Waste recycling,Water supply etc have lot of scope and good business can be made out in these fields.he asked us to not restrict ourselves to think about sectors or fields which are doing good business,"broaden your vision and you will see lot of scope".

He asked us to "Shoot,Shoot,Shoot and then Aim".

If we aim first,it would make us nervous,it would make success very important for us.Failure would bring in disappointment and we would never realize the pleasure of "learning from mistakes".

Shooting and missing the shot would actually let me analyze my mistake.I will know what not to do or rather,what would not fetch me result.In other words,every shoot and every miss would be learning experience.After enough learning,I will automatically Aim correct and result would be delivered.

Had I aimed first and succeeded, I would not know what actually could have made me fail. And if a situation of crisis comes in future,I would panic,I would not know how to react,as I never tasted that failure.

But at the same time,making mistakes is fine but not repeating them."To make a mistake is not a mistake,but to repeat a mistake is a mistake."

We are in our early years of career making,we all can afford to make some mistakes at this point of time.It would give us great learning experience.This experiences would prepare us for more vital tests to come in future,and trust,we won't fail there.

So,"Shoot,Shoot,Shoot and Aim",broaden your vision,realize new scopes were some of the vital learning from the session.

SMART Goal and Pygmalion Effect

“I recommend that you focus on both substance and process of your goals. I believe that both are equally important: by setting a high-quality SMART goal you will enable yourself to be conscious and your actions will carry more meaning; meanwhile, it is the execution of the SMART goals strategy that separates achievers from the rest of the people.” 
― Anna Stevens, Turn Your Dreams And Wants Into Achievable SMART Goals!
The above quote in itself speaks about the importance of setting smart goals.

Today's class was all about setting SMART goals.We were all expecting another surprising element out of Dr. Mandi's bag.This time it was a snail shell.Now this shell has a lot to tell us.It was handed out to each one of us,to observe it.

The thing that we realized out of this shell was it's SPIRAL form.
"GOALS SHOULD ALWAYS BE SET SPIRALLY"

Economic Time also used the same concept to show how its business grew spirally.Now this all is based on the concept of Fibonacci Series.We all have the potential to set spirally growing goals and achieve them.Even our Finger prints support it.

This is how the goals should always be set.The Higher you set the goals,the more you thrive to achieve it.

Goal Set * Goal Achieved = Performance

Goal Set should always be higher then Goal Achieved.If Goal Achieved is higher than Goal Set,then that means you have undermined your potential.Dr. Mandi explained us the graph which would explain the relation between Goal Set,Potential,Goal Achieved and History(Previous Achievement)

                        A- Goal Set
                        B- Potential
                        C- Goal Achieved
                        D- Previous Achievement






This concept explaining Higher expectations leads to Higher results was derived from Pygmalion.This was a play be  George Bernard Shaw. 

So what does Pygmalion effect say?
Pygmalion Effect : How we perceive others,positively or negatively could have a big impact on their performance level.


 
                                                                                                                 

"More Out Of Less For More"

In this blog, I would be bringing in quantitative and qualitative approach to management. I would be talking about famous 3 E's of management. The whole management revolves around these 3 E's:

• Efficiency
• Effectiveness
• Excellence

Efficiency by literal meaning is the extent to which money, efforts or time is used for a purpose or a task. It's a very objective term. It's so because a measurable output is associated with it. It is the ratio of Output to Input.

Effectiveness is more of a subjective term. It is  simply a capability to produce desired results. It's more of a qualitative element.

Efficiency and Effectiveness are very common business terms.However,most of must mix their meaning and usage. "Being Effective is doing the right things,being efficient is doing things right".

This reminds me of very good example I read about Efficiency and Effectiveness.

There were two persons,A and B trying to replace  flat Tyre of their cars.Person A starts by taking out a jack and placing it under the car. He did not now where to position the jack.After some hard work,he was somehow able to replace the flat Tyre. He wasted around 20 min in the process.

As A was doing right thing,but he was doing it poorly  he was effective but not efficient.

B,on the other hand,starts by cleaning the replaceable Tyre with a towel.He wants to make the Tyre as clean and shiny as possible before pacing them on. He was very good at this cleaning.He cleaned the Tyre and then went on to replace the flat Tyre.

B was very efficient in his work but his work was not effective.Its not effective because cleaning is not a important step when changing the Tyre.

This example explains Efficiency and Effectiveness very clearly.

So what is Excellence then? Excellence is defined as:

Excellence =  Efficiency * Effectiveness

In case of above example, had there been another person C, who could have replaced the flat Tyre by following right steps and doing it quickly, he could have been "Effective as well as Efficient" i.e. Excellent in his work.

Excellence in organizations is all about achieving "More out of Less for More" where "More out of Less" is Efficiency and "for More" is Effectiveness. The world has seen many organizations which have followed brilliant business strategies and made world say "Wow!". Excellence is combined effort of Efficiency and Effectiveness and is highly interrelated.

Well I leave you to think on this with this beautiful quote -

The leader must discover the "Doing things right is not as important as doing the right things." A comparison between the Effective leader and the Efficient one is helpful.

Comparing Craftsmanship to Modern Management

I already talked about Craftsmanship in my previous blog
http://019akshaychavhanim20nitiepomcourse.blogspot.in/2013/06/the-management-tower.html

In this particular blog I would be comparing Craftsmanship to Modern Management. This would just be a comparison of two management types, I would not be drawing any inference. It would be a simple comparison of two types of managements. Drawing judgement out of this comparison would be dealt in future blogs.

1. Craftsmanship talks about 1 "Tower" whereas in Modern Management deals with more than 1 "Tower" .(Read above mentioned blog for the concept of Tower)
2. Craftsmanship involves no parallel working whereas parallel working is key part of Modern management.
3. Craftsmanship is more about achieving "Specialization", but Modern management helps achieve "Dexterity". Specialization here refers to attaining mastery in a work by doing in again and again. This work may be very small. Whereas, "Dexterity" refers to skills in performing tasks specially by hands. It talks about adroitness and cleverness.
4. Craftsman achieves satisfaction from his work. Whereas Modern management might bring in some annihilation(not necessarily).
5. Craftsman show immense skills whereas in modern management workers are deskilled. Deskilled here talks about Disintegration. The job at the work place is disintegrated in such a way that the levels of skills required to carry out a work gets reduced.
6. Craftsmanship involves tough replacement as its person driven activity.Finding replacement is easy in case of Modern Management as it's process driven.
7. Delegating work becomes easy in Modern management but the term has negligible meaning in Craftsmanship.
8. As Craftsmanship is person driven it is less complex compares to process driven Modern Management.

So this are some of the broad points which compare Craftsmanship to Modern Management. I have not inferred anything out of this comparison for now,but would be able to deduce better in future blogs. 

The X and Y Manager

So what's X and Y?We all have heard about them as variables in Algebra or as types of Chromosomes in Biology.But here I would be referring to "McGregor's XY Theory".

Theory X and Theory Y was an idea devised by Douglas McGregor in his 1960 book “The Human Side of Enterprise”. It encapsulated a fundamental distinction between management styles and has formed the basis for much subsequent writing on the subject.

Theory X is an authoritarian style where the emphasis is on:

• Productivity
• Concepts of fair Day's work
• Rewards for performance
• Restriction of output

It reflects an underlying belief that management must counteract an inherent human tendency to avoid work.

Theory Y is a participative style which assumes that people would exercise self-direction and self-control in order to achieve the organization's objective.it is believed that employees would remain committed to their jobs and it's management's task to maximize that commitment.

Now lets try to understand the following statements:

1) Theory X Manager assume LAZY workers as LAZY and make them work
2) Theory X Manager assume NOT LAZY workers as LAZY and make them work
3) Theory Y Manager assume LAZY workers as NOT LAZY and make them work
4) Theory Y Manager assume NOT LAZY workers as NOT LAZY and make them work

1) Theory X Manager assume LAZY workers as LAZY and make them work

When LAZY workers are made to work by Theory X Managers,they use authoritarian ways to deal with them.Managers try to get work done by frightening the workers,workers work just for the sake of their job and to avoid getting fired.But in such a case,both the Worker and Management is at loss.In all,the whole organization suffers.

• There is lack of innovation and new ideas as work is seen as a burden by workers.
• Management gets more and more negative and hopeless towards the workers and their business.
• Lack of responsibility on workers side
• Workers stand against the management and risks the business.
• Instead of making the workers realize their wrong attitude,management makes them develop retaliative approach.

2) Theory X Managers assume NOT LAZY workers as LAZY and make them work

This case can have even more devastating consequences.Manager does not trust his worker,he is hopeless and pessimistic .His authoritarian approach and his lack of realization can lead to :

• Lack of innovation and new ideas:Though company has workers who can give great ideas,but they fear the management and do not participate in communication
• Waste of useful human resource
• Workers avoid taking roles and responsibilities just to be on the safe side.
• Stagnant business practices despite availability of resources
• Growing discomfort,dissatisfaction and insecurity among the workers.  
• Though performance based rewards are given,but the rewards won't bring personal satisfaction to the workers 

3) Theory Y Managers assume LAZY workers as NOT LAZY and make them work

Theory Y Managers are hopeful.They try to reward,motivate and support the workers.The implications of such management can be:

• Lazy workers get motivated and try to change their attitude towards work because the manger thinks the worker has potential to work and he tries tries to change his approach towards work.
• Lazy workers realize the values of the company
• Lazy workers realize their role and responsibilities in the company.They start communicating their ideas which are most welcomed by the management.
• Timely perks,appreciations boosts the morale of such workers and as time progresses they turn out to be efficient workers. 

4) Theory Y Managers assume NOT LAZY workers as NOT LAZY and make them work

The implications of such management are:

• Workers are given good roles and responsibilities and expected to deliver the same.
• As the management is hopeful about its workers,the  trust level developed between employee and worker is immense.
• Workers try to bring up their ideas and innovations on the common platform which are respected and discussed.
• Workers feel secure and comfortable.The personal satisfaction and monetary rewards make employees happy.
• Such practice develop Theory X principles in the workers itself and they practice the same when they reach top management.

I have come across managers of both the types:THEORY X as well as THEORY Y.Though both were able to deliver output,but in a long run THEORY Y managers turned out to be more successful for the business as well as the company.THEORY X managers would find it difficult to achieve results in modern organizations.

I have always shown characteristics of being a X Type Manager.I believe that 'Employee Comes First',Proper Guidance,Motivation,Accolades and Perks to keep them enthusiastic makes workplace a enjoyable place.It brings in innovation and new ideas,which are actually hear and if found good are also implemented. 

Go through the following video:

http://education-portal.com/academy/lesson/theory-x-theory-y-two-types-of-managers.html

The Management Tower

Another interesting class on Principles of Organization and management by Dr. Mandi. This time it involved wooden cube toy.Students in the class were asked to build a tower using small wooden cubes.Now as at B-School everyone talks about money,money got involved here too.You will have to bid to compete in the tower building activity.And to my surprise,a person who competed bet 500 Rs. on the same.The Rules of 'Tower Building' Activity were :

• The Tower should have single Cube Base.
• At a time,only one cube could be placed.
• Build tower as tall as you can,but if it falls you lose your money.

The participant of our class was able to make an impressive tower consisting of 16 blocks but his tower fell down unfortunately.

After the activity got over,Dr. Mandi asked us about the Organizational management involved in the activity.Students talked about Time management,Block Balancing,Poor base leads to fall of organizations.

Dr. Mandi then stated the term 'Craftsmanship'.Craftsmen like Cobblers,Carpenters are involved in a negligible Organizational management.The work associated with craftsmanship has no scale. The concepts like Sales,Performance,Results,Bringing new customers,Impact is missing or is negligible with craftsmanship.

A cobbler mending/making X shoes a day is able to satisfy demands of only X customers a day.He does not think of expanding his business and earning maximum profit out of it.rather,if n no. of cobblers get involved in different activities of shoes making,they could make/mend nX shoes a day thereby satisfying nX customers.Their market would multiply 'n' folds.

(Mr.Satyajit Ray was a brilliant filmmaker,but with him went his brilliant movie making techniques and his virual organization.An organization should be process driven rather than being person driven)

Organizational management involves this concept.They bring in a group of people together,define the work and earn as much as profit available by expanding the market by fulfilling large no. of demands.This not only expands the market but also reduces operational costs as no. of tools,time required get reduced.

In another activity,this time Dr. Mandi asked us to show some organizations management in building the same tower.Around 8 volunteers participated in the activity.Some additional rules wee laid down in the activity:

• The team member who would be making the tower is blindfolded.His/Her team members could support him/her.
•  Supporters are not supposed to touch the blocks or the person involved in building it.

Everyone in the class was asked to predict the no. of blocks that could be laid down,I predicted 10.The activity was started,wherein one supporter verbally helped the constructor in placing the blocks.The team laid 7 blocks and the tower collapsed.

The learning from the activity:

1)Set a handsome target:Professor mentioned that always set a target which attracts audience.Had there been investors, corporate,low target would bring severe criticism.You can always take some risks.But at the same time,never set a target which is just out of reach. Realize your potential and instead of lowering it,raise it by same extent.

2)Team Activity V/s Individual:In the second activity,team member was blind folded.The team comprised of 8 members,but members had no specific task assigned.'Blind folded' constructor here signified "over management".The poor performance in second activity was because there were too many managers in the team with no specific role and responsibility,which lead to loss of transparency in the system.This would obviously make work difficult for the constructor.

In the future blog,we would talk more on Craftsmanship and compare it with Modern Management

The First "96 Steps"

As the alarm went off at 7 a.m.,the very first waking thoughts were relieving and enthusiastic:I would not have to wear formals and rush to the office,instead I would spend the day absorbing knowledge from distinguished professors and accomplished classmates.

I was already mesmerized by the beauty of 'God's Own Campus' NITIE and the climate made it just perfect. NITIE was ready to provide us the best learning environment and then we took the famous '96 steps'.

As I got settled down in Syndicate 1,I saw Mr.T Prasad enter the classroom.The very first glimpse of him made me realize that he is the famous 'Dr. Mandi' whose videos and blogs I had read before. Dr. Mandi is a famous personality in and around MBA community.The class delivered everything that was expected.
His unique teaching style(which I always just heard of) was actually delivered.The toys,song "We do not need no education" by Pink Floyd,poems,humour and flying kisses all around made the environment pleasing.I could find him in each and every corner of the room interacting with the students.He allowed students to take videos,photographs.

Smiling faces all around......

The interactive session made me realize that I was spending 2500 Rs a day to study at NITIE. I was spending money which did not belong to me. Dr. Mandi made me realize that there are many people who earn on daily basis for their livelihood."Aaj ki Roti Aaj Hi Kamao",else I will end up being a beggar.If I  earn even a small percentage of my spending daily,I could turn out to be a successful manager who would not need all this learning.

"Money" and "Marks" should be prioritized above "Learning".The statement might seem arguable,but if I am able to make money by opening an enterprise and I am able to bring marks,the learning would directly come to me without realization."Socho Socho,Becho Becho,Becho Seekho,Sekho Becho" were " Dr. Mandi's lines.

Then we talked about "Student Enterprise".As I had an business idea,he asked me to discuss on the idea later with him.He talked about successful alumni who own their enterprises and cleared our doubts on how we could deal with issues of funds and time.An enterprise never require money to start its operations,it requires only great ideas.

There were no case studies,no frightening management jargon's. The session was on simple principles of management which include learning,developing ideas, implementing them and also selling them.A hard fact...but money matters.

I had written blogs in the past,but never on the subjects I study.Thanks to Dr. Mandi who made me realize that we should always write blogs on our subjects,apart from on other aspects of life.Through this blog,I would be sharing my learning and experiences at NITIE with the world.

Please comment on the blogs so that I can improve my blogs in the future.