"一个和尚将承担两桶水，两个和尚将共同分担负载，但添加第三，没有人会想打水" is a Chinese proverb which roughly translated as "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". In 1980 Mr.A Da made a short 20 minutes animated film based on this proverb. This won several international awards for it's depth of meaning. Lets explore this wonderful masterpiece as part of learning.
A young Buddhist monk lived alone at the top of a mountain. Every day he
had to fetch water from the foot of the mountain, using a yoke and two
buckets.That provided him with enough water for his personal needs and
to water a small flower vase.
One day, he was joined by an older monk. Their attempts to bring water up the mountain together, stringing a single bucket on a pole carried between them, were not very successful; and each felt it was the other’s task to fetch more water, so neither went.The flower in the vase began to die.
It is not disaster that brings them together, rather it was an act of a mouse. A mischievous mouse, drops burning candle and sets temple on fire, seeing this the monks run all around searching water or any other means to put off fire. They forget the arguments and difference of opinion as whom should fetch water instead they work as a team to get water from the pond down the hill and succeed in putting off the fire. Not only this, in the end three monks come up with an innovative way of fetching water using a pulley.
Scene 1 :
A young Buddhist monk lived alone at the top of a mountain. Every day he
had to fetch water from the foot of the mountain, using a yoke and two
buckets.That provided him with enough water for his personal needs and
to water a small flower vase.Scene 2 :
One day, he was joined by an older monk. Their attempts to bring water up the mountain together, stringing a single bucket on a pole carried between them, were not very successful; and each felt it was the other’s task to fetch more water, so neither went.The flower in the vase began to die.
Scene 3 :
Then a third monk arrived, and the situation worsened. As each monk refused to give way, or compromise his stance in any way, the outlook became bleaker, and certainly none of them was composed enough to meditate or pray. Then one day, disaster struck, a thunder night with heavy rain and lightning…It is not disaster that brings them together, rather it was an act of a mouse. A mischievous mouse, drops burning candle and sets temple on fire, seeing this the monks run all around searching water or any other means to put off fire. They forget the arguments and difference of opinion as whom should fetch water instead they work as a team to get water from the pond down the hill and succeed in putting off the fire. Not only this, in the end three monks come up with an innovative way of fetching water using a pulley.
Learning :
- Experiences in crisis management comes handy to come up with new innovative methods to solve a problems
- Synergy: sum of two components is bigger than the whole.
- Productivity is about how well an organization converts resource inputs into goods or services. Workplace productivity is about how firms can utilize labor and skills, innovation, technology and organizational structure to improve the quantity and quality of their output.
- Teamwork can lead to better decisions,products and services. The quality of teamwork may be measured by analyzing the following six components of collaborations among team members.
- Communication.
- Coordination.
- Balance of member contribution.
- Mutual support.
- Effort.
- Cohesion.
Analysis in terms of effort and productivity :
| Case 1 | Case 2 | Case 3 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Team size | One | Two | Three |
| Input (Effort Units) | 100 effort units by one monk |
50 effort units by two monks each | Negligible effort units by three monks together |
| Output (water buckets per trip) | Two buckets per trip |
One bucket per trip |
Many buckets per trip |
Productivity |
50 effort units per bucket |
25 effort units per bucket |
Negligible effort units by three monks together |
Team interaction |
Individual |
Loosely coupled |
Strong interaction |
A
young Buddhist monk lived alone at the top of a mountain. Every day he
had to fetch water from the foot of the mountain, using a yoke and two
buckets. That provided him with enough water for his personal needs and
to water his small vegetable garden. One day, he was joined by an
older monk. Their attempts to bring water up the mountain together,
stringing a single bucket on a pole carried between them, were not very
successful; and each felt it was the other’s task to fetch more water,
so neither went. The vegetables in the garden began to die. Then a
third monk arrived, and the situation worsened. As each monk refused to
give way, or compromise his stance in any way, the outlook became
bleaker, and certainly none of them was composed enough to meditate or
pray. Then one day, disaster struck… - See more at:
http://www.papertigers.org/wordpress/books-at-bedtine-three-monks-no-water/#sthash.c6y8Dkhy.dpuf
A
young Buddhist monk lived alone at the top of a mountain. Every day he
had to fetch water from the foot of the mountain, using a yoke and two
buckets. That provided him with enough water for his personal needs and
to water his small vegetable garden. One day, he was joined by an
older monk. Their attempts to bring water up the mountain together,
stringing a single bucket on a pole carried between them, were not very
successful; and each felt it was the other’s task to fetch more water,
so neither went. The vegetables in the garden began to die. Then a
third monk arrived, and the situation worsened. As each monk refused to
give way, or compromise his stance in any way, the outlook became
bleaker, and certainly none of them was composed enough to meditate or
pray. Then one day, disaster struck… - See more at:
http://www.papertigers.org/wordpress/books-at-bedtine-three-monks-no-water/#sthash.c6y8Dkhy.dpuf
