Showcasing the Ideal Corporate Scenario !

It was a Thursday afternoon and we all were eagerly waiting for Dr.Mandi to arrive. What must have he got today, What activity will we do today , What learning will we get today were the common questions in everybody's mind. And then he enters, with his trademark bag and smile.

He enters and asks us to sit down on the floor :) ! and opens his Pandoras Box, read "Bag"  ! His hand reaches inside the bag to get some building blocks. Each one of us starts staring at each other wondering what would this kiddish game of building blocks mean?? Dr.Mandi then specifies this is an exercise to show what is Craft Management and Modern Management.

Then came the instructions part -
1) There will be 2 teams -  one person with eyes in open condition, and the other being blindfolded along with 2 helpers.
2) Wooden cube Tower will be made with only one cube as BASE.

3) If the tower falls, you are out of the game.

After laying down the instructions, he then asked us to predict how tall the tower will be ?? Weird answers such as 19, 13 started pouring in- no one exactly knew how easy or how difficult it will be to build it!

After a lot of deliberations, finally the exercise begins -

First it was the turn of the open eyed person.- He had predicted to make about 14 blocks, but once he started he managed to make 22 blocks. He used ample time, with proper techniques.

Now this looked like a Hercules task, for a blindfolded person to actually build the tower. He had two helpers with him, one being his Manager, the other being the CEO. Dr.Mandi made the task even more challenging when he instructed the blind folded guy to use only the left hand. It looked a difficult job - But it came as a big surprise when this group ended up with 26 blocks.

We kept on wondering, how did this happen, Dr.Mandi then started explaining what happened in this exercise..

In 1st case it was the model of Old Management/ Craft Management -  where decisions and work was to be done by the same guy.

In 2nd case it was the scenario of  Modern Management, where work load was divided.As the person could not see, his job was to only follow instructions and work accordingly.  While the other couldnt work- but just give instructions .So that reduced the pressure on the worker and he worked with his maximum efficiency. 

In modern times, that is today, modern management is preferred. It improves efficiency, reduces time and beneficial for the company ! 

My Observations :

 1) Setting Goals : Goals should always be set to maximize the output. Both the parties underestimated their capabilities, so in my view they should have been judicious enough and should have set higher goals ! According to me, a higher goal would have been an inspiration to perform more cautiously and better, because psychologically the participants did loosen up once they achieved more than they had targeted for- which i feel lessened their efficiency. From my personal experience, my manager always allotted me tasks more than what i could do - so that i give myself that extra push to complete the task

2) Motivation : Again this was an important psychological factor. The blindfolded person, could not see anything, but the amount of motivation that was instilled in him, by his manager and the class, did boost up his ego. He was motivated at every step, in every manner - be it screams, applause, or just some light talks ! I feel motivation and appreciation go hand in hand, and they serve as booster to the employee - helping him perform better. From my personal experience i can quote -  Every performance appraisal / Appreciation mail- made me work better.

3) Guidance : The blindfolded guy task- was one where a proper guidance was duly and highly required. Every move, every step had to be monitored. One wrong instruction could have destroyed everything. Hence in corporate a manager should be confident and responsible enough to take decisions and then accordingly guide his workers to help the company flourish. Personally, while working, in the initial few days, i remember someone of my team always sat with me to perform tasks, which really helped me.

4) Trust  : This task was one of a kind, where trust levels were showcased beautifully. Every step the worker took- he trusted his manager. Every time the worker did the move- the manager trusted him. In any organization this kind of trust is required.


Below is a comparison between Craft management and modern Management :

Parameters	Craft management	Modern management
Risk	Risk is high, as it depends only on one person	Relatively less, as it depends on the thinking of the manager taking the decision.
Work	Single person does the work.	Work divided between different levels- such as top management, middle management and lower management
Productivity	Decreases- only one person does.	Increases- work load is shared
Skills	Depends only on one person	Expertise skills work here. Particular people for particular job.

Ready to fly- i want to go high !!!

Before you start wondering the reason behind this odd blog name- and start cursing me ! Let me help you to understand it :)
In Greek mythology, a Phoenix is a long-lived bird that is cyclically regenerated or reborn. Now comes the significance of how is this blog title related to me??

I believe, education plays a major part in modelling your thoughts. Here I am standing in one of the most prestigious institutions of India, NITIE is what they call it !! The Gods' Own Campus, right in the heart of MUMBAI !!!! Somewhere deep down, I feel these 2 years of Post Grad study in the Financial Capital of India with the best brains of the country, will help me reborn into a much better,ambitious, matured and successful person, hence the name !

The 1st day was an eye opener.It was like washing your face with Chilled water early in a Winter morning. From Engineering college to an MBA college- and suddenly I see myself attending 2 hour-lectures ! And a total of 8 hours in a day !! Rubbing eyes, somehow the 8 hours ended !! Phew, a sigh of relief !

The Next day morning 9 am Tuesday is when the entire Stress and fatigue evaporated ! Early morning 9am, all 80 of us in half sleepy mode, chattering away, expecting another so called Lecturer to enter the class. And then Suddenly i see a middle aged, lean man , just like our next door neighbor, entering the class in very simple clothes with a Jute Bag slinged on his shoulder. and suddenly he says- "Everyone come and sit down on the floor in the front" !! It was such a pleasant surprise. instantly the kid inside all of us awakes and we all enthusiastically sit down on ground along with the Sir himself!!

This was Mr.T.Prasad, or Dr.Mandi, how the entire MBA world fondly wishes to address him as :) ! He made us comfortable by even answering to stupid questions like- " when will sun come out" !!! Then the entire discussion took a new direction when the mention of "Mandi" - His brainchild came in !

Mandi is a very Famous event, where hundreds of NITIE students walk down on the streets and sell stuffs to bring about a difference in lives of some not so fortunate people, and simultaneously , also have the 1st hand experience of intricacies of business ! This initial discussion on Mandi increased the curiosity of students, and we started inquiring about the products. Suddenly out of that simple jute bag he takes out amazing stuffs, The 1st was a Newton Cradle,then a Globe Squeeze Ball, and finally a Balancing Bird ! It seemed as if Pandoras box is being opened !

Newtons Cradle - is a device that demonstrates conservation of momentum and energy via a series of swinging spheres. When one on the end is lifted and released, the resulting force travels through the line and pushes the last one upward.

Balancing Bird - The Balancing Bird is a little plastic bird that comes with a pointed base. Incredibly, when you place its beak on the tip of the base, the bird balances; body, tail, outstretched wings and all.

Globe Stress Ball - A stress ball is a malleable toy.It is squeezed in the hand and manipulated by the fingers, ostensibly to either help relieve stress and muscle tension or to exercise the muscles of the hand.A globe stress ball, has the imprint of the globe on it !

All these three products were awe-awakening ones ! Simple, cheap yet loads of learning. It rejuvenated the long lost laws of Physics in our minds again ! Fun with Learning it was.

After this conversation Dr.Mandi discussed with us about how "Earning while learning" works, How the event Mandi is going to grow by manifolds in coming years, and that Doing business i.e "Dhanda" doesnt require any pen/paper. It is there in the mind, we just have to use it.He also mentioned about how he plans to spread free education, through our blogs. :) In his words " someone who doesnt have the money to attend NITIE, must know from your blog, about what is being taught ! "

This class opened my perceptions, helped me learn many things, gave me the "Wings of Fire" to fly high and touch the sky - the sky of dreams, the sky of reality, the sky of peace . I look forward to huge amount of learning from this class :)

To know more about Mandi - please visit - www.youtube.com/watch?v=LFPHoj16XBE