Learning Principles of Management through Animated Movie : Three Monks

The film ‘3 monks’ is a Chinese animated film, released in 1980 and directed by A Da. It is one of the most famous and beloved Shanghai Animation Film Studio's productions, and has won awards at film festivals throughout the world.

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.”

Before I write any further, I request you all to watch the video of the movie.

 

For those who do not have time to watch the movie, here is the brief synopsis of the movie:

There is a monk who lives in a monastery on the top of a hill. He has to come down to fetch water from the river and he was living happily. Then a second monk comes and starts living with the first monk. The problem starts when they together go to fetch water. They are unable to decide how to divide the work amongst them as no one wanted to do any extra work. They decide to calculate the length of the stick carrying the bucket and hung the bucket in between. The coming of the third monk creates a conflict as to who two will bring the water. Since they are not able to resolve this conflict no one goes and the monastery is without water. Then one day fire broke in the monastery and the three monks with their combined efforts put it out. Since then they understand the old saying "unity is strength" and begin to live a harmonious life. The temple never lacks water again.

 

 

Followings are the management lessons learnt:

1. Teamwork does enhance the efficiency in the working of task.

2.  Disputes tend to arise when there is more than one person involved.

3. Scientific and objectives measurements and instruments should be used to resolve the conflict.

4. The most efficient method to solve a problem evolves over a period of time.

5. Teamwork and team interest should take precedence over the personal interest.

6. Experiences in crisis management come handy to come up with new innovative methods to solve a problem.

 

7 Attitude of each team member determines the fate of the task and decides for the success rate.

8. Synergistic roles:   Individual sums become bigger than what was there individually.

Learning

The story of the three monks tells us about the basic human nature and the requirement of having a proper coordinating team. People mostly tries to off load their work to others instead of making a collective effort and divide the work properly. Also for any activity to be done successfully, the coordination between the team members is very vital. And for proper coordination the team members must feel friendly towards each other. As in the video when the three monks become friends towards the end they were able to come up with the innovative idea of the pulley system.

Smart Goals

It’s being an amazing journey till now and I wish it continues for ever. Two classes it has been and I think the teaching methods are world class. It was time for the third class and professor Mandi was standing in front of the us, giving us a few moments to hold our breath since a very exciting class is about to begin.

 Mr. Mandi started explaining the importance of goal setting by giving examples of many people who feel as if they're adrift in the world. They work hard, but they don't seem to get anywhere worthwhile. A key reason that they feel this way is that they haven't spent enough time thinking about what they want from life, and haven't set themselves formal goals. Goal setting for them is a powerful process for thinking about their ideal future, and for motivating themselves to turn their vision of this future into reality. The process of setting goals helps us choose where we want to go in life. By knowing precisely what we want to achieve, we know where we have to concentrate our efforts.

The best and effective way to achieve one’s goal is to set SMART goal. This term was of course not new to the class but Mr. Mandi with his unique style explained the term clearly. I would like to explain this by an appropriate figure.

Goal Setting should evolve in a Fibonacci kind of way.

So, one must always try to challenge oneself and always set higher goals and never underestimate oneself.

 

After a one hour understanding of setting smart goals, a new concept began which is related to the Greek mythology and is called ‘PYGMALION’ effect.

According to the Greek mythology the Pygmalion was a sculptor who lived in Cyprus. Women who lived on Cyprus didn't stay virtuous, so Pygmalion decided to live alone and made a perfect sculpture, Galatea. During the Aphrodite feast, thanks to Pygmalion`s prayers, the sculpture turned into a real person. This was called The Pygmalion effect.

 The Pygmalion effect shows that if we want something enough, we'll get it. Another example of the Pygmalion effect is in groups. If there are two groups, one group thought that their teacher was "good", the other group thought he was "not good". The teacher treated both groups the same, but the group with a positive expectations had better outcomes than the others; Simply because those with positive expectations made them perform better than other students.

 

 

I can’t tell for every person but all I know is that it’s very hard to resist gaining the concepts in Mr. Mandi’s class. I am thorough with both the concepts and I know that I will never ever forget that. Again thank you so much Mr. Mandi for such a knowledgeable and fun filled class!!!!!!!!!