Valley Crossing

                                                      VALLEY CROSSING

Today,  I got to learn Team Management principles in the class of Dr. Mandi. As expected he came in the class with a prop – ‘a long wooden bar’.  Initially, it was difficult to decipher what was he going to teach using the bar but then he showed a picture of 3 men crossing a valley with a wooden bar. Then, we got an idea of what he was going to teach us in the class.

Steps:

1.      When the first person will take the first step, he will be half risky since one of his feet will be in air and other on the ground, at the same time other two people will be full safe.

2.      Everybody will take one more step at this moment, first person will be fully risky and other two will be full safe. But since other two people will be holding the rod, with proper communication and trust they can cross.

3.      This process will be repeated for other two persons. Every time they will be either half risky or full risky.

If we see the degree of risk for these 3 people we find that each shares equal risk when we see the task in totality:

Person	First Person	Second Person	Third Person
Steps:
1	Safe	Safe	Safe
2	Half Risky	Safe	Safe
3	Fully Risky	Safe	Safe
4	Half Risky	Half Risky	Safe
5	Safe	Full Risky	Safe
6	Safe	Half Risky	Half Risky
7	Safe	Safe	Full Risky
8	Safe	Safe	Half Risky
9	Safe	Safe	Safe

All the 3 members have equal risk involved, therefore confidence and trust in your team members is most important. If you lack trust, then your team cannot achieve what you aimed.

Now, what was our learning from this exercise:-

Team Work -

 Teamwork is the ability to work as a group Teamwork is the ability to work as a group toward a common vision, even if that vision becomes extremely blurry. Vision is nothing but a SMART goal i.e. Specific Measurable Attainable Realistic Timely Goal. It is always said, “Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence wins championships”.

 
Goal Setting –

 
Valley could have not been crossed if each person A, B or C had different goals. Hence, setting a common goal is the most crucial part of an organization. Setting goals gives you long-term vision and short-term motivation. It focuses your acquisition of knowledge, and helps you to organize your time and your resources so that you can make the very most of your life.

 

Trust – 

Trust among the three people crossing the valley is one of the most important attribute. As, different times, a particular person among them is vulnerable and his safety lies in the hands of the other two people. Same is the case with the organizations. The success of any organization depends upon the teamwork and the trust among them. No trust means a hostile, toxic work environment where productivity is severely limited.

 

Communication - 

Communication is one of the important attribute of achieving the task. Healthy communication is a source of information to the organizational members for decision-making process as it helps identifying and assessing alternative course of actions. As in this example, the three persons have to communicate continuously to cross the valley. 

Effective Execution Of the Role Assignment  - 

A very important role is played by the Role Assignment and the execution of that role. Each member at every given point of time is engaged in his role. In a moment of time, a new role is assigned to him and he has to immediately adopt himself according the new role. 

 

KHAN Academy – Transforming Classrooms

Everyone has a dream. For Salman Khan, it was of a Global Classroom where a child from Kolkata can interact with the one in Los Angeles – irrespective of the economical state of either of them. In order to make this happen, Khan Academy was established. A graduate from MIT and Harvard Business School who had been working as a Hedge Fund Manager had an inclination towards socialization which inspired him to do something for the society.

Things always happen for a reason. This is true for Mr Khan, who first created you tube videos for his cousins, just to make them understand the basic concepts.  But after getting the positive feedback from them, he tried sharing the video which got a good feedback from people. Taking it as an opportunity, he started working on the videos, reaching out to millions of students of all ages, across the globe with the sole purpose of making teaching more interactive and fun.   

Gradually, Khan Academy was a vital hit and became prominent in online education industry. Now, after getting the first steps right, there was a need for expanding the service in a better way. So, he started working on Technological advances which made the programme more teachers friendly where they could analyse the efficiency of each student and start working with them in the classrooms. So, here is the innovation of a person who transformed the classrooms from a mere silent to interactive and learning sessions. Check out the video below :-

Salman Khan showcases all qualities of a Y manager. “Dare to Think” is the what he inspires me the most. How things get started in a small scale and in order to reach to each and every person, how expansion took place with the help of Internet. Moreover, keeping the software easy to use, every student can make the most out it sitting in any place around the world.