Tower Building Exercise : A study on Goal Setting

Tower Building Exercise : A study on Goal Setting

The last lecture of POM Class was on Tower building exercise in which a tower of cubes was to be built by us placing one cube above another. The exercise was to teach us the principle of goal setting as mangers.

Four different scenario were encountered, here I will analyse and infer the teachings from each one of them.
                                                                                     Scenarios

Parameter	Factor	I	II	III	IV
Historical Tower height achieved by team LOW	1	5	5	5	5
Historical Tower height achieved by team HIGH	2	18	20	21	23
Achievable Performance -(Estimate / Guess )	3	18	20	22	25
Goal proposed by the Manager	4	18	22	22	18
Goal proposed by the worker	5	12	12	12	20
Goal Mutually agreed for building the tower between worker and manager with the support of the manager	6	15	22	18	15
No. of cubes Tower manager and worker team could build / achieve at the end of the exercise	7	18	18	18	18

Gaps	Factor difference	I	II	III	IV
Gap if any between Tower height Performance so far achieved and Achievable performance of tower	3-7	0	2	4	7
Gap if any between goal proposed by the manager and mutually agreed goal by team	4-6	3	0	4	3
Gap if any between goal proposed by the manager and the goal proposed  by the worker	4-5	6	10	10	-2
Gap if any between goal proposed by the worker and mutually agreed goal by team	5-6	-3	-10	-6	5
Gap if any between  performance achieved ( at the end of the exercise ) and  goal mutually agreed by manger and the worker	6-7	-3	4	0	-3
Gap if any between  performance achieved ( at the end of the exercise ) and  achievable goal	7-3	0	-2	-4	-7

The gap between the various factors speaks of the different kind of management styles.

Scenario 1:
Here the manager have faith in the abilities of his workers and sets up a high goal(18) but the workers have low aspiration and demands a lower goal (12). So, the manager considering the demands of his workers lowers the target goal (15). The workers are motivated and inspired by this gesture of the manager and works hard to achieve the set goal and in the act able to build a tower of 18 goals as set originally by their manager thus achieving their potential. Thus we see here is a manager who is not very rigid but listens to his team, sets realistic goals and then motivates his team to achieve them.

Scenario 2:
Here we have a manger who is unrelenting and sets up a high goal (22) and is adamant about achieving it. He does not discuss the issues with his workers as a result the workers are able to build a tower of only 18 cubes. Not only missing the managers target but also performing below their potential.

Scenario 3:
Here we have a manger who sets up a high target of 22 cubes which is achievable.But the workers demands a target of only 12 cubes, now the manager is not a hard taskmaster and after discussion he is able to bring the mutually agreed target by 6 sacrificing only 4 in this process. Motivated by this gesture the workers are able to achieve the set target of 18 cubes. Thus the manager has been able to achieve the desired target and also has not compromised on his relationship with workers by listening to their feedback.

Scenario 4:
Here the manager sets up a goal of  only 18 blocks while the workers believe they can build up to 20 cubes. After discussion they come down to 15 cubes this shows that the manager is not confident and aware of the potential of his team. Thus such managers limits the potential of his workers and thereby hindering the growth of organization.

Story of 3 Monks

An 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."

 

If you want to learn about the fruitful outcomes of mutual understanding in the team or the disastrous consequences of internecine conflicts, this post is the place you want to be. These two contrasting scenarios (of understanding or of conflict) can be well understood by a movie which was shown to us by Dr. Mandi recently.

 

This movie beautifully describes two very much possible outcomes of any team-exercise. Here it is, Three Monks.



Happy Endings, they ARE real...

This is a Chinese animated movie and it was one of the first animations created as part of the "Rebirth-Period". This movie does not have any dialogues so can be understood by everyone.

Summary and Learning:

Case 1:

A young monk lives in a temple, on the top of a hill. Other than his normal routine of prayers, he has the task of bringing two buckets of water up the hill from the water-body near the hill's base. He lives happily as he has to take care of himself only.

Here, team has not been built yet, just one individual is completing his tasks without any problem.

Case 2:

But soon, another monk arrives. Young monk tries to burden the new monk with the task but the new monk calls his trick and asks him to share the work. But, when they actually start doing it, they find that the carry pole is not suitable for such usage. But, after some trials they come to an agreement about the way they want to perform the task.

Here, there are many lessons:

· If we have some experience of a place, that doesn't give us a right to tease the new joiners, but a responsibility to show them the way, we should try to build a healthy work environment.

· We should never think of anyone being stupid, their abilities and capacities might not be explicitly visible but that does not mean, they don't have any.

· We should never underestimate a person's understanding; he might be knowing it and at the same time, might not be showing it.

· Try building a team, as a team usually performs better than the individuals.

· While working in a team, try to accommodate others and be encouraging at the same time.

· If going gets tough such as team is not going along well, understand everyone's perspective.

· Give people time to settle and let them take the initiative.

Case 3:

Then a third monk arrives and both of the other monks expect him to bring the water but the new monk drinks everything he brings and the other two monks don't want to do the task anymore. Consequently, because of this conflict, no one fetches water although everybody is feeling thirsty. At night, a rat knocks down a candle holder causing fire in the temple. The three monks finally get together and make an effort as a team to put out the fire. They succeed in this task and later on, formulate a method to bring the water. Now, they have understood the axiom "unity is strength" and live a harmonious life thereafter.

The Lessons:

· Don't try to change people, give them time to change themselves at their own pace.

· Don't push your expectations too far; it might cause trouble to the whole team.

· If team is not going along, it doesn't mean that we should let things take their own course. We should strive to change the flow and bring people together.

· It is true that a mis-happening brings people together but that doesn't mean, we should wait for one to put things in order.

· A good team can perform any task, the authority and responsibilities need to be delegated properly.

"INDIVIDUALS WIN FIGHTS BUT WE NEED TEAMS TO WIN WARS"

TEAM - 'T'OGETHER

               'E'VERYONE

              'A'CHIEVES

             'M'ORE