POM Lecture: 01 - 02

LE (01 - 02): The Tower Building Exercise

“We learn more by looking for the answer to a question and not finding it than we do from learning the answer itself.”  

Today, in our first class we were introduced to skill based learning about management principles. Learning while working on it provides immense help in relating it to our day to day life and prior corporate experience.

While introducing us to the Tower Building Game, Dr Mandi asked 1 of us to come ahead and build the tower by stacking small cubes one over  other and continue the process until it falls. He was not allowed to use his right hand and he can take as much time he wants. But before he can start, Dr Mandi asked all of us to guess about the number of blocks he will be able to stack. After that he started building it and was able to keep 18 cubes. From the stated exercise we were able to understand below stated conclusions.

1. There were 3 kinds of people who set the goals.

• More that 18 cubes: These kind of goals were ambitious goals where goal set is more than attainable goals.
• Less than 18 cube: These kind of people underestimated the probable performance of the player but after knowing about his performance they increased their goal set take it ahead of attainable goals.
• 18 cubes: These people were perfect on target but goal set should be more than attainable goal.

  

  2.   Dr. Mandi now told us to set the goal again but the condition this time was that the player will be blindfolded. This time again we got following conclusions:

• Few students lowered the target which should not be preferred because organization should never lower their target and underestimate itself.
• Few students retained the target. It should be preferred as organization should word towards their goals despite any hurdle.
• Few students increased their targets which should be the most preferred one as organization needs to expand by overcoming their hurdles and weaknesses. 

With the help of above learning we can conclude as: 


                            A: Potential                                          B: Goal Set
                            C: Performance                                    D: Achievable  

So overall this exercise helped us to understand the goal setting Process of an organization.

Excellence = Efficiency x Effectiveness

 

  An organization is a group of people working together to achieve a stated goal. They work together towards its vision and mission. Here collective performance is much more important than individual performance. If all individuals are performing but in different direction then collectively organization will not be able to achieve desired goals as damaged caused can be much higher. For the above reason individuals in an organization should be managed properly by showing them the correct path which can lead to excellence. But to achieve excellence we need to have both efficiency along with effectiveness. 

Excellence: It is quality of performance that outperforms any ordinary standard.

Efficiency: It is maximization of output by minimization of input. It is amount of output we can get by minimum efforts.

Effectiveness: It is the capability to work towards goal set or desired results. Because of this collectively people in an organization can achieve goal set.

Efficiency in organizations consists of performing a series of steps in order to produce an output. When alone, efficiency doesn’t make any sense. Any organization is always guided by vision and mission which are main components of Effectiveness. So when the steps are performed (Efficiency) in order to fulfill the desired goals and objectives (Effectiveness), then the organization produces Excellence.

From the above picture, we can understand that with the help of team skill we can cross any barriers with minimal efforts. All the employees were working together which lead to overcome difficulties and this tells us about team skills and excellence.