Life is full of them, isn’t it? Be it managerial, psychological, mathematical, chemical, physical or in the form of whatever word ending in “-al”, one has to face problems and come out with solutions. Mind you, finding the problem itself is not a child’s play in the first place, but, once found, a question remains if all problems need to be solved? What I intend to mean becomes clear when we consider that whenever faced with some problem, there are just three options. First, and the most preferred option, is to eliminate the problem forever from the root. Second acceptable choice is to conquer and change the situation to your favour. And if both fail, then accept it as-is and bear with it forever. In some cases, the third option does make sense and saves a lot of time, effort and deliberation if the problem is akin to a dog’s tail.
And so our day started when Dr. Prasad took out 27 small cubes comprising of 9 different colours. The immediate thought that struck everyone was we had to make a Rubik's cube, similar to the first statement I started writing this blog with.
We reached to a judgement just too quickly. The task was to arrange the cubes in such a manner that no face should have two same colours.
At first everyone became complacent and thought that the task wasn't tough. But only when one-two people tried their hands at it, they realized that they wren'e organized. Dr. Mandi then explained the algorithm to achieve the given task. Once understood, the algorithm was so simple that we wondered how it didn't strike any of us.
1) The basic lesson learnt was the importance of organization. Half of our problems could be easily solved by proper organization of thoughts, manpower and material.
2) The second take-away was that things lie in simplicity. The more one over-complicates things, the tougher the task becomes.
3) Unity of command - When everybody was trying to suggest their approach, it resulted in a chaos. But when two people were selected at random and one of them was made the task-completer and the other giving suggestions, the process became smooth.
In my opinion, the mark of a genius lies in solving complex problems in a simple manner, with a deft trick of sorts. Solutions which are not understandable to the masses and cannot be reproduced are of little use, especially in a managerial sense. And, they are not very attractive, to say the least, are they? On the other hand, the subtlety and guile of a simple solution or trick captivates the audience and a single piece of a puzzle is sufficient to unravel the whole mystery. If that piece is found, you have conquered the whole thing!
A simple example of a Rubik’s cube comes to mind. On the face of it, the cube presents a complex problem to be solved in terms of aligning coloured faces once scrambled. Since the scrambling is random, a host of problems can be devised. Yet, the knowledge of a generic algorithm does the trick and is enough to solve each and every problem. This is a basic tenet of Creative Problem Solving. The solution to the problem lies in a subtle step which makes the solution simple. Yet, when that step is known, the nature of the problem and the solution both get undermined. Perhaps this is the reason why the whole thing becomes trivial and the purpose or learning behind the whole process is lost.
And so our day started when Dr. Prasad took out 27 small cubes comprising of 9 different colours. The immediate thought that struck everyone was we had to make a Rubik's cube, similar to the first statement I started writing this blog with.
We reached to a judgement just too quickly. The task was to arrange the cubes in such a manner that no face should have two same colours.
At first everyone became complacent and thought that the task wasn't tough. But only when one-two people tried their hands at it, they realized that they wren'e organized. Dr. Mandi then explained the algorithm to achieve the given task. Once understood, the algorithm was so simple that we wondered how it didn't strike any of us.
1) The basic lesson learnt was the importance of organization. Half of our problems could be easily solved by proper organization of thoughts, manpower and material.
2) The second take-away was that things lie in simplicity. The more one over-complicates things, the tougher the task becomes.
3) Unity of command - When everybody was trying to suggest their approach, it resulted in a chaos. But when two people were selected at random and one of them was made the task-completer and the other giving suggestions, the process became smooth.
In my opinion, the mark of a genius lies in solving complex problems in a simple manner, with a deft trick of sorts. Solutions which are not understandable to the masses and cannot be reproduced are of little use, especially in a managerial sense. And, they are not very attractive, to say the least, are they? On the other hand, the subtlety and guile of a simple solution or trick captivates the audience and a single piece of a puzzle is sufficient to unravel the whole mystery. If that piece is found, you have conquered the whole thing!
A simple example of a Rubik’s cube comes to mind. On the face of it, the cube presents a complex problem to be solved in terms of aligning coloured faces once scrambled. Since the scrambling is random, a host of problems can be devised. Yet, the knowledge of a generic algorithm does the trick and is enough to solve each and every problem. This is a basic tenet of Creative Problem Solving. The solution to the problem lies in a subtle step which makes the solution simple. Yet, when that step is known, the nature of the problem and the solution both get undermined. Perhaps this is the reason why the whole thing becomes trivial and the purpose or learning behind the whole process is lost.
Learning from the Navarang exercise:
An organizational structure consists of activities such as task allocation, coordination and supervision, which are directed towards the achievement of organizational aims. It can also be considered as the viewing glass or perspective through which individuals see their organization and its environment.
An organization can be structured in many different ways, depending on their objectives. The structure of an organization will determine the modes in which it operates and performs.
Organizational structure allows the expressed allocation of responsibilities for different functions and processes to different entities such as the branch, department, workgroup and individual
Organizational structure affects organizational action in two big ways. First, it provides the foundation on which standard operating procedures and routines rest. Second, it determines which individuals get to participate in which decision-making processes, and thus to what extent their views shape the organization’s actions.
Example of organizational structure:
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