Valley Crossing - Lessons in Management

  

Valley crossing is primarily a very interesting puzzle where three men holding a pole over their shoulders have to cross a valley.

This is interesting simply because the three men have to work with the highest amount of coordination and even a small amount of misjudgement could lead to disastrous results.

The Puzzle

The valley is so wide that one cannot cross it in a single step but it requires less than 2 steps.

As they say a picture is worth a thousand words. The above picture is the epitome of this saying. As descriptive a it can get, the predicament of the three men is quite obvious.

The Learning

Teamwork:

  Just like in this puzzle, in real time organizations teamwork is of utmost importance. As most mature organisations are subdivided into departments and each department is divided into teams of various kinds, it is of utmost importance for the organisation that the teams work in harmony. Lack of team-spirit, not only hampers the performance of that particular team but also the entire organisation.

Trust:

Trust is of utmost importance, be it in personal relationships of professional ones. Lack of trust creates doubts and becomes a major headwind for smooth flow of information.

Continuous Communication:

Just like in this puzzle, in real life organisations rapid and continuous flow of information in both directions is of utmost importance. Neither the employees nor the managers should be kept in the dark about new developments, however unsettling they may be.

Co-ordination:

In today’s fast moving world even a delay of few seconds causes major losses. Perfect co-ordination between the numerous chains involved ensures desired results.

Indeed this puzzle in itself is a management lesson of the highest kind.