OB & HR Blog-1

Chinese Folktale : Three Monks and No water 

Unity is strength... when there is teamwork and 

collaboration, wonderful things can be achieved.

By Mattie Stepanek

The principles of management can be understood by a movie on three monks. Three Monks is a Chinese animated feature film produced by the Shanghai Animation Film Studio. After the Cultural Revolution and the fall of the political Gang of Four in 1976, the film was one of the first animations created as part of the rebirth period. It is also referred to as The Three Buddhist Priests.

The film is based on the ancient Chinese proverb "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." The film does not contain any dialogues, allowing it to be watched by any culture, and a different music instrument was used to signify each monk. The film tells the story from the aspect of the Buddhist bhikkhu.

There is a monastery located on the top of a hill and the only water source (river/lake) is at the bottom. To collect water one needs to get it from the bottom of the hill in buckets. Initially there were 2 monks, who after lot of fighting with each other, decided to carry the bucket together using a rod/log, and share the load equally. When they collected enough water, they were joined by the third monk (a fat one), who was tired from all the climbing and finished all the water in the monastery. Later that night, there was a fire in the monastery. Now in the desperate attempt to save the monastery the monks forgot their differences and started working together. They divided the path from the monastery to the water source into 3 parts. First monk filled the buckets from the source and gave them to the second monk, who in turn ran the middle section and gave the buckets to the third monk. The third monk took the bucket to the monastery and poured the water on the fire. With lot of effort they were able to extinguish the fire and save the monastery. This fire made them realize the need for a proper way of collecting water. So the next morning they came up with a simple solution. They installed a pulley on the cliff, through which one monk can lower a hook to the river.  Another monk can hang the bucket filled with water to the hook, which can be pulled up using the pulley. The third monk can carry the bucket from pulley to the monastery.

We can relate a few management lessons from the story:

1) Productivity :

Does team work increase productivity or decrease it? Rather than answering in a straight yes or no, lets go step by step. 

• Initially, a single monk could get 2 pails of water daily. High effort, high output. 
• When the second monk joins, they get 1 pail of water everyday. Now, the effort as well as output has become 1/2 of original (for a team of two). 
• The work comes almost to a standstill when the third monk comes, nobody bothers to get the water himself as all of them leave it on the other person to take care of the chore. Originally, this behavior was called “social loafing,” a term coined by a French professor, Max Ringelmann in the 1890s.

Then how can the management ensure high productivity in an interconnected and interdependent environment?

• Availability of adequate support systems and resources for teams
• High degree of instantaneous feedback and communication
• Rigorous accountability systems for teams
• Synergistic work environment will increase the productivity manifolds for a team

Thus, team work can actually increase the productivity exponentially, given that above features are incorporated in the work culture laid out by the management.

2) More the people higher the chance for Dispute :

When the third monk went downhill to fetch water for the first time, he came back and drank water all by himself, exhibiting a selfish tendency not aligned to the goals of the team ie. To have water stored at all times. This led to further animosity among the 3 monks and the task never got completed. Hence even in an organization, selfish motives should be discouraged. A team working towards a common goal is the best direction to be heading to!

3) Try to find Simple Solutions : 

This is the motto of decision making for any manager or team member in an organization. When the first two monks were trying to push the weight of the bucket towards each other, we in the class were asked to give a possible solution to the problem

There were a lot of other possible alternates given by others too like:

• One person getting water one day
• Two persons more bucket
• Two sticks, four buckets
• Divide the work in half
• Get a motor and connect a pipe
• Attitude problem - Brain wash

Always try to find simple solutions as it will enhance the coordination among the team members.

4) Innovation : 

The monks out of egoistic behavior did not fill water till the fire broke out and they were left high and dry! Had they not waited for the fire to break out and had kept some water, they would not have been in a crisis. The management lesson here is to have a proactive approach! Do not wait for fire to break out in the organization (Fire is a metaphor for something ungainly in the organization).

Conclusion : 

• The productivity increases with the increase in the number of persons 
• There is more than 100% increase in the production with 100% increase in resources with good co-ordination
• One monk carrying water every day will become boring after a while but two monks carrying water will not be boring and productivity will not be hampered
• Disputes and conflicts are bound to arise but they need to be minimized so as to make the most out of the available resources
• Team work and coordination is the key to success
• Synergy is the magic word here!

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