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Honesty is still the best policy

Once a general manager wanted to test his people who had come from all over India, about their values of life. He announced that in their seminar folder, there is PVC pouch and in it there is a seed. When they return, they must put it in a good soil in a pot and look after it very well.

He would hold a competition in the next year’s seminar and that the best plants would be awarded suitably. Everyone did what was told to him. A year passed quickly. And next year in a big hall, there were hundreds of pots and a great variety of plants-a great scene.

Except one pot in which the soil was there and no plant! The owner was standing quietly and seemingly ashamed of himself! The general manager called him on the stage. He asked him what happened and he told him the truth. He planted the seed which he was given and did that was to be done but nothing happened!

The general manager declared him the winner! Everyone was shocked. It was announced, “Gentlemen! The seeds I gave you were boiled seeds. You planted them and nothing happened! You acted smartly and used some other seeds. This man was honest to his work and, therefore he did not cheat me or himself!”

Simple Solution

I received this case study again from my papa, which is quite interesting. I do agree with simple solutions. I want you all to read because it can dazzle you for sure!!!

One of the most memorable case studies on Japanese management was the case of the empty soapbox, which happened in one of Japan ‘s biggest cosmetics companies. The company received a complaint that a consumer had bought a soapbox that was empty.

Immediately the authorities isolated the problem to the assembly Line, which transported all the packaged boxes of soap to the delivery department. For some reason, one soapbox went through the assembly line empty.

Management asked its engineers to solve the problem.

Solution #1: Post-haste, the engineers worked hard to devise an X-ray machine with high-resolution monitors manned by two people to watch all the soapboxes that passed through the line to make sure they were not empty. No doubt, they worked hard and they worked fast but they spent a whoopee amount to do so.

Solution #2: But when a rank-and-file employee in a small company was posed with the same problem, he did not get into complications of X-rays, etc., but instead came out with another solution.

He bought a strong industrial electric fan and pointed it at the assembly line. He switched the fan on, and as each soapbox passed the fan, it simply blew the empty boxes out of the line.

Moral

  • Always look for simple solutions.
  • Devise the simplest possible solution that solves the problems.
  • Always focus on solutions & not on problems