Think Sell Learn

Date : 20-06-2012

From Another Brick in the Wall to an 18 cube stack, this was no ordinary Wednesday or for that matter no ordinary lecture. But such is the case when Dr. Prasad or Dr. Mandi as he loves to call himself (and so do we) gives a lecture.

All about Socho Becho…

The lecture started off with the inspiring mantra “Socho Becho, Becho Seekho, Seekho Socho”; which captured the imagination of every student in the class. The essence of the line – the best way to learn is by getting one’s hands dirty. Only learning the concepts is futile unless you practice them in the real world and learn from those experiences. Dr. Mandi emphasised the need for ‘out of the box’ thinking even when looking at seemingly simple objects. To illustrate this point he showed us some toys made out of very basic things and asked us to figure out the science behind their working. The point behind the whole exercise – if you can understand the objective of a product, you can sell it effectively. This is the key behind the “Socho Becho” part of the mantra.

An example:

   

The picture above is of a toy which primarily works on Newton’s third law of motion – Every action has an equal and opposite reaction. The moment the seller figures this out he/she can target the market strategically, focussing on the learning aspect of the toy.

This was a major lesson from the first lecture which encouraged us to think beyond the usual and then apply those ideas. I am certain we will get numerous opportunities to practise these golden words – Socho Becho, Becho Seekho, Seekho Socho, in events like Mandi, Hamara Dhanda and otherwise.

Cubes for thought…

What are SMARTE goals? What is Theory X- Theory Y? These are some of the basic principles of management which can be understood through a plethora of websites available. But how can they be applied in real world? This is where Dr. Mandi comes in with an innovative game – building a single stack using cubes.

Numerous cubes were distributed and the class was asked to estimate how many of them could they stack on top of each other in a single row – if they were to be blindfolded, using their left hand and were being guided by another person. Sounds tough? Sure it is! This was an excellent exercise in learning how to set SMARTE(Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, Timely,Evaluate) goals. A lot of thought had to be put in before putting our finger on a number. The game became even more exciting when three students decided that they could stack 15 cubes after being made to bet actual money.

The whole game was given the resemblance of an organisation; where the blindfolded person stacking the cubes was the worker, the person guiding him was the manager and the third person who had the liberty to intervene whenever he felt necessary was the Top-level manager. Surprisingly this pseudo organisation followed the Theory Y, where the worker was motivated by the manager to achieve his (and the organisation’s) goal. There was no coercion or any other unpleasant means used to achieve the goal as in case of Theory X, as the worker understood his responsibility.

The management was equally helpful in motivating the workforce through the arduous task.

The result – where the goal was to stack the 15 cubes they ended up stacking 18 of them and were looking good for even more.

Such are the achievements when the workforce is motivated in an appropriate manner and the management communicates with it continuously and effectively.

The amount of learning from this task is enormous. Whether it is setting up SMARTE goals or witnessing the application of Theory Y, the task teaches us that only when all aspects of an organisation work efficiently and effectively, only then the goals can be achieved.

The first two lectures by Dr. Mandi have set the mood for the next 2 years in NITIE and have made us realise the number of opportunities we have here to learn new and implement new things. I believe I have already become wiser after just two lectures – looks like we are all in for a real treat.