Practicability in life
I am a strong believer of practicability in life...that is what I continuously strive to achive... a few cases on how practicability can bring-in simple solutions to complex problems...
Boppiah Vs Columbus
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"When he set out
He didn’t know where he was going
When he got there
He didn’t know where he was
When he returned
He didn’t know where he had been
He did it all
With borrowed capital."
This is the portrait of Christopher Columbus. In spite of all his senselessness, Columbus did find himself a place in history. (You are free to raise your objections). In Management too, there is something called "Christopher Columbus School". Many among us are graduates of this school and this may be the reason why the scene around is so miserable. I have a feeling that we ought to erect a new school where we acquire a different kind of attitude. One can name this – "The Boppaiah School of Management" ! Please don’t rake up your brains to locate its founder, you are not likely to succeed. Well, Boppaiah was an operator at the Sreeharikkotta Space Centre, worked under Dr.A.P.J.Abdul Kalam and retired only last year. The time was during the fag-end of seventies and everybody at the unit was trying his/her level-best for the SLV launch. Once, it so happened that during count down, a snag was detected by the computer and the high spirits suddenly nose dived. There is a mechanical device called "umbilical chord" fitted to the launching tower which gets automatically detached once the thrust is built up. Sadly enough, it failed to disengage at a height of 30 m. and one could imagine the frenzy. Dr.Kalam, as usual, offered to climb up the tower. Nobody allowed it (as usual) and there was this youthful Andhraite, Boppaiah, turned up much to the relief of the officers around and volunteered to help. He scaled all the thirty metres, studied the situation and gave "a nice kick" to the contraption thereby releasing it in a moment. Needless to say, the mission was accomplished. It is still remembered as "The Boppaiah Launch". (The source of this incident is the Hindu and not any of Dr.Kalam’s books).
The attitude matters a lot, especially in moments of crisis. The expert misses the obvious more often. I have a feeling that plain, logical thinking is the key.
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"When he set out
He didn’t know where he was going
When he got there
He didn’t know where he was
When he returned
He didn’t know where he had been
He did it all
With borrowed capital."
This is the portrait of Christopher Columbus. In spite of all his senselessness, Columbus did find himself a place in history. (You are free to raise your objections). In Management too, there is something called "Christopher Columbus School". Many among us are graduates of this school and this may be the reason why the scene around is so miserable. I have a feeling that we ought to erect a new school where we acquire a different kind of attitude. One can name this – "The Boppaiah School of Management" ! Please don’t rake up your brains to locate its founder, you are not likely to succeed. Well, Boppaiah was an operator at the Sreeharikkotta Space Centre, worked under Dr.A.P.J.Abdul Kalam and retired only last year. The time was during the fag-end of seventies and everybody at the unit was trying his/her level-best for the SLV launch. Once, it so happened that during count down, a snag was detected by the computer and the high spirits suddenly nose dived. There is a mechanical device called "umbilical chord" fitted to the launching tower which gets automatically detached once the thrust is built up. Sadly enough, it failed to disengage at a height of 30 m. and one could imagine the frenzy. Dr.Kalam, as usual, offered to climb up the tower. Nobody allowed it (as usual) and there was this youthful Andhraite, Boppaiah, turned up much to the relief of the officers around and volunteered to help. He scaled all the thirty metres, studied the situation and gave "a nice kick" to the contraption thereby releasing it in a moment. Needless to say, the mission was accomplished. It is still remembered as "The Boppaiah Launch". (The source of this incident is the Hindu and not any of Dr.Kalam’s books).
The attitude matters a lot, especially in moments of crisis. The expert misses the obvious more often. I have a feeling that plain, logical thinking is the key.
Pen Vs. Pencil
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When NASA began the launch of astronauts into space, they found out that
the pens wouldn't work at zero gravity (ink won't flow down to the writing
surface). To solve this problem, it took them one decade and $12 million.
They developed a pen that worked at zero gravity, upside down, underwater,
in practically any surface including crystal and in a temperature range
from below freezing to over 300 degrees C.
And what did the Russians do...?? They used a pencil.
When NASA began the launch of astronauts into space, they found out that
the pens wouldn't work at zero gravity (ink won't flow down to the writing
surface). To solve this problem, it took them one decade and $12 million.
They developed a pen that worked at zero gravity, upside down, underwater,
in practically any surface including crystal and in a temperature range
from below freezing to over 300 degrees C.
And what did the Russians do...?? They used a pencil.
Empty soap box
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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. 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.
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.
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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. 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.
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.
posted by JISHITH GANGADHARAN at
12:34 AM
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1 comments
