Have you ever thought that a movie can teach management?
Yes, it can. And so it did!
It was another weapon of Prof. Mandi to impart a new lesson
to us by watching a movie. We were asked to watch an animated short film – “The
Three Monks”.
Context:
Three Monks is a Chinese animated feature film produced by
the Shanghai Animation Film Studio. After the Cultural Revolution and the fall
of the political Gang of Four in 1976, the film was one of the first animations
created as part of the rebirth period. It is also referred to as The Three
Buddhist Priests.
Background:
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."The film does not contain any
dialogues, allowing it to be watched by any culture, and a different music
instrument was used to signify each monk.
Film:
Plot:
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 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 begin to
live a harmonious life. The temple never lacks water again.
Awards:
- Won the outstanding film award at China's Ministry of Culture.
- Won the Best animated film prize at the first Golden Rooster Awards in 1981.
- Won four international awards including a Silver Bear for Short Film at the 32nd Berlin Film Festival in 1982.
Analysis:
A team is supposed to achieve what an individual is
incapable of. With a conscious observation, we can figure it out in the video. There are two main aspects to be considered while analyzing i.e Staffing and Productivity. Load remains to be a vital factor to measure team
performance. The video has 3 solutions with one, two and three team members
respectively. Let’s try to analyze their respective loads:
1st
solution: The first monk carries a load of two buckets on his own:
The load of each bucket is, say, b, and that of his own
weight is w. Now considering that his load efficiency is inversely proportional
to his load, load efficiency per person, P1 = k1/(b+b)w [k1 = constant]= 0.5
k1/bw
2nd
solution: Two monks share the load of one bucket:
Now by the same logic, load efficiency per person, P2 =
k2/(b/2)w [b/2 as they share the load] = 2 k2/bw
Moreover, although not shown in the video, we might
speculate another option, which might
reduce individual load, but enhances productivity:
3rd
solution: Three monks devise a pulley like structure, that almost eliminates w.
So load efficiency increases manifolds. A team, thus, signifies exponential growth in possibilities
as it grows.
My Learnings:
- The initial model of overburdening a useful resource, might give very good returns in the initial stage. But as time passes by, the returns will be diminishing and the motivation to work will be gone. So, the lone man standing model for Human resources is a disaster. Any company should make sure that none of its employees are overburdened.
- No five fingers are alike. Every team comprises of people with different attributes and quality. This difference has to be channelized for the greater good.
- Standards have to be set and rules should be laid. Otherwise things head towards a haywire.
- Teams should have sustainable models. Any team is as strong as its weakest link.
I finally come to an end now. Please leave a feedback on how you find the analysis so that I can improve upon. More to follow soon. Stay connected!
