Wednesday, 26 August 2015

MARSHMALLOW CHALLEGE

We always talk about crisis management. Why is crisis management so important???? Puzzled, right?

We will talk about it with the help of a MARSHMALLOW CHALLEGE, which is a design challenge. The challenges are very simple and one of them is presented here. Challenge: The team of four have to build tallest free standing structure within 8 minutes. The apparatus provided was 20 sticks of spaghetti, one yard tape, one yard string and one marshmallow. The only condition was the marshmallow has to be on top.

Well it seems very simple but actually it’s pretty hard because it forces people to collaborate very quickly. This interesting idea was once incorporated in the design workshop and there was the huge success. 70 different design workshops were conducted with students, graduates, designers, architects, etc. The deep lesson came out of this about the nature of collaboration.

Normally most of the people started by orienting themselves to the task, they spend some time planning, organizing, sketching the layouts, etc. They spent majority of the time assembling the sticks to build in the ever growing structure. And finally at the end someone takes up the marshmallow and gently put it on top. They stand back and admire their work but this Ta-Da moment turns to Oh-Oh moment when the structure collapses soon because of the weight of the marshmallow.

Survey along the world answered the 2 most interesting questions. 1st is who consistently performs poor and were caught in the clutches of Oh-Oh moments most of the time? The answer is Recent School Business Graduates. They produced really lame structures. Shocked???

2nd one is yet to be answered. The 2nd question is who consistently performs well and enjoyed Ta-Da moments most of the time?  And the answer is Kinder Garden students. They were not only able to produce most tallest but also more interesting structures. Analysis id shown in figure below.

So, now the question is how come? Why? What is about them? The reason for this is business students are trained to find a single right plan. Then they execute on it and finally when they put marshmallow on top, it’s a crisis. But the kinder garden students start with the marshmallow and then they built successive prototypes by always keeping the marshmallow at the top. So they get iterative feedbacks of what workas and what doesn’t work.
So this is an essence of collaboration. It is an iterative method consisting of steps prototype, refine, prototype, refine, continuously. 


Why to spent time to conduct this marshmallow challenge? It helps to identify the hidden assumption i.e it helps the team to identify the marshmallow in the project. Every project has its own marshmallow.

In nutshell, take up one idea. Make that one idea your life. Let the brain, muscles, nerves, and every part of your body be full of that idea, and just leave every other idea alone. This is the way to success.
Believe in yourself and all that you are. Know there is something inside you that is GREATER than any obstacle.

Thank you for your time. If you are more interested you can visit marshmallowchallenge.com

Tuesday, 25 August 2015

FAMOUS FAILURES

After Being Cut Basketball Team, He Went Home, Locked Himself In His Room And Cried.
MICHAEL JORDAN – 6 Times NBA Champion, 5 Time NBA MVP & 4 Time NBA All-Star

He Wasn’t Able To Speak Until He Was Almost 4 Years Old And His Teachers Said He Would “Never Amount Too Much”
ALBERT EINSTEIN – Theoretical Physicist & Nobel Prize Winner

Was Demoted From Her Job as a News Anchor Because She Wasn’t Fit For Television
OPRAH WINFREY – Host Of a Multi-Award-Winning Talk Show & the Most Influential Woman in the World

Fired From A Newspaper For “Lacking Imagination” And “Having No Original Ideas”
WALT DISNEY – Creator of Mickey Mouse & Winner of 22 Academy Awards

At Age 11 He Was Cut From His Team After Being Diagnosed With A Growth Hormone Deficiency, Which Made Him Smaller In Stature Than Most Kids His Age.
LIONEL MESSI – 3 Time FIFA World Player of the Year

At 30 Years Old He Was Left Devastated and Depressed After Being Unceremoniously Removed From the Company He Started
STEVE JOBS – Co-Founder Of Apple Inc. & Co-Founder of Pixar Animation Studio

A High School Dropout, Whose Personal Struggle With Drugs And Poverty Culminated In An Unsuccessful Suicide Attempt
EMINEM – 13 Times Grammy Award Winner, Sold Out 90 Million Albums Worldwide

A T3acher Told He Was “Too Stupid To Learn Anything” And That He Should Go Into A Field Where He “Might Succeed By Virtue Of His Pleasant Personality”
THOMAS EDISON – Inventor of the Incandescent Light Bulb

Rejected By Decca Recording Studios, Who Said “We Don’t Like Their Sound… They Have No Future In Show Business”
THE BEATLES – The Most Commercially Successful and Critically Acclaimed Band In History

His First Book Was Rejected By 27 Publishers
DR. SEUSS – Best-Selling Children Author in History

His Fiancé Died, Failed In Business, Had A Nervous Breakdown and Was Defeated In 8 Elections.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN – 16th President of the United States

IF YOU’VE NEVER FAILED
YOU’VE NEVER TRIED ANYTHING NEW.

This is the power of SELF-BELIEF.

Monday, 24 August 2015

GO NOT TO THE TEMPLE

Go not to the temple to put flowers upon the feet of God,
First fill your own house with the fragrance of love.


Go not to the temple to light candle before the altar of God,
First remove the darkness of sin from your heart.


Go not to the temple to bow down your head in prayer,
First learn to bow in humanity before your fellowmen.


Go not to the temple to pray on bended knees,
First down to lift someone who is down-trodden.


Go not to the temple to ask for forgiveness for your sins,
First forgive from your heart those have sinned against you.