Team and Group Dynamics: Three Monks

             This time Dr Mandi taught us about Team and Group Dynamics but not through what is written in the books but through a simple Chinese video. This was just a wonderful experience where we learnt the concepts given in all the great management books but totally without these books and this is what is unique about our POM class. Lets have a look at that video!

Three Monks - Introduction

Three Monks is a Chinese animated feature film. The video is derived from a book authored by Ting-Xing Ye's. 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."

        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. Then one day another monk joins him. He tries to share the job with another monk, but the carry pole is only long enough for one bucket. So they both share the load. 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 candleholder, 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 device a method which leads to equal load sharing between the three of them and they begin to live a harmonious life. The temple never lacks water again.

Analyzing the story

First Case

In the first situation as shown the task is being done only by one monk. As the task is done by only one member, though the efficiency is productive enough this can prove to be a bottleneck in face of any crisis. Moreover any innovation in the method of getting water may require more manpower, time which may have impact in his other daily activities and hence cannot be applied in this situation.

Learning

The presence of a single member contributes to the unity of direction in doing the job which is also a vital factor in any organization.

Second case

In second case the work load has been divided into two equal parts but one important factor to be considered here is the coordination between the two members in the team. The root cause for their difference of opinion is that there is no 'standards' or rules for completing the task in a coordinated manner. This is later sorted out when the first monk draws a scale and makes a fair ruling.

Learning
This principle is also very important with regards to any organization as there is a need to a unity of direction and proper distribution of work for the organization to march towards its goals. Another thing which needs to be highlighted is that the increase in manpower leads to increase in efficiency as the work-load on one person is reduced.

Third Case

Initially no one gets water and all of though are feeling thirst. But finally the fire induces a need to get the water and out of the need arises unity and they work together and get water quickly with less efforts.

Learning
This particular case is a perfect example of social loafing in an organization where people start exerting less effort to achieve a goal when they work in a group than when they work alone. Moreover the lack of proper coordination between the members in the team results in complete organizational failure.

Finally we see that how the work-load is reduced with the help implementation of innovative methods and proper coordination. Thus the management of any company should focus on technological advancement so as to increase efficiency.