The jigsaw puzzle called a Team

Insights into team work and management

Cycling is one sport not many associate with in the world, particularly in India perhaps because the game has been riddled with doping over the years. But, this blog does not mind that fact and goes on to declare that the sport is the single biggest example of how teamwork works better than individuals. Usually, a team of cyclists consists of a sprinter, a time trialist, a specialist in cycling in mountain peaks, the three put together as specialists, for say and domestiques. Apart from the cyclists themselves, the team comprises a manager, mechanics, doctors, coaches and a director of sport. If you are wondering about who those domestiques really are, they are professional cyclists themselves whose main job is to protect the specialists from cyclists of rival teams and bring food and water to the specialists when the team is on the road. Not a very happy job, right? The domestiques hardly ever win a flat stage and are supposed to support the specialists in all terrain, flat or mountainous. They are required to have two different set of specialist qualities, essentially but are not the ones who can flex their muscles and let individual glory come into the picture. For, in a cycling team, the specialists are meant to win. That is how it works and for a long time, I was baffled by the psychology behind playing a domestique’s role. Why on earth would anyone want to do that? I have found several reasons since and one of the most convincing ones was witnessed in Stage 18 of Tour de France 2012.

Watch the video of Mark Cavendish’s record equaling sprint win here. After a minute or so in, you will notice that Bradley Wiggins, the yellow jersey man (read the leader of the Tour) sets the pace for Mark Cavendish and their team and moves away. This is a guy who is going to win the tour. Why then should he lead up his teammate and move aside? Mark Cavendish provides the answer in the video. Led further by Edvald Boasson Hagen, another teammate, Cavendish sprints his legs out in a sudden burst of power from nowhere and wins the stage in the last 200m. We are talking about winning a stage of 222 kilometers in the last 200 meters. How is it made possible? Team Work!

 3 Monks and no Water

An old Chinese proverb goes “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 proverb is based on a story of three monks which can be seen here. Basically, in the story, the monks use three different methods to carry water which are outlined below:

·         Method 1: A single monk carrying two buckets of water

·         Method 2: Two monks carrying a single bucket of water

·         Method 3: Three monks working as a team to bring buckets of water

Method 1 is the status quo of sorts with no help available. For a single monk, it is easier to bring two buckets of water on a bamboo stick balanced on his shoulder than a single bucket carried by hand. However, when another monk makes himself available, the first monk initially thinks he would be relieved of his duties. However, this is not meant to be and the two monks together decide to share the load and carry a single bucket of water between them by balancing the bucket at the centre of the stick after initial quarrels giving rise to Method 3. The real problem arises when a third monk shows up. First, both the monks in the scene decide to let the third monk do the work as per Method 1. The third monk tries but then is so tired climbing up the hill that ultimately there is no water available for the monastery. Now, this is not a situation which the flowers on Lord Buddha’s lap or the Lord Himself would fancy. Yet, the monks are oblivious and sit out the rest of the day without water. Until, there is a fire! (If you have not seen the video of the 3 monks, now would be good time to see it!)

Innovation – Necessity’s son!

When the entire monastery is on fire and the monks realize that their livelihood is at stake, the monks naturally fall in line and collaborate to douse the fire. The entire hilltop is divided into three sections, with the monk close to the river filling the bucket and the monk at the top dousing the fire with water in the bucket with the monk in between acting as a liaison between the two. This could have very well happened before but it did not as the monks were thinking on individualistic terms rather than unite as a group and work for the common cause of bringing water for the monastery. When the necessity of dousing the fire came to the fore, individual goals were forgotten for a common goal of dousing the fire. And this, in turn, led to the realization by the monks that bringing water would be much easier if they were to collaborate with each other each day as per Method 3. As they say, two hands are better than one! Just that in this case, the third hand made a lot of difference as well.

Productivity – the buzz word

If you noticed, between Methods 1 & 2, the number of buckets per trip has come down from 2 to 1 and the number of people employed is up from 1 to 2. Method 1, hence, should be more productive right? Well, in plain materialistic terms, Yes! But, one has to remember that the work is not done by robots but by humans. And, we humans are characterized with a certain amount of energy. I think you will agree with the fact that a single monk carrying 2 buckets expends more energy than 2 monks carrying one put together. Again, each monk is different (as the video itself depicts so amicably!) and each monk can expend a different amount of energy illustrated by the fact that the third fat monk ran out of steam going up the hill and drank all the water he carried to refresh himself. Anyway, with 2 monks carrying a bucket, the amount of energy expended per bucket carried would go down. Quite obviously then, Method 2 is more productive than Method 1. It wasn’t productive at all before the 2 monks carrying that single bucket decided to use an objective measure of a scale to equally divide work by resting the bucket at the midpoint of the bamboo stick.

This brings us very nicely to Method 3 and its productivity. Well, each monk had perhaps an equal share of the work up the climb and hence, each monk would have expended an equal amount of energy. But, when it is divided between 3 monks as in Method 3, the productivity of the monks is not the highest. Sure, the monks have time to rest in between till their turn to carry the bucket up or down. But, the stop-start nature of the method does not make it suitable for the worker or for the organization which brings us to Method 4.

Innovate to Excel

The monks could very well be happy with Method 3 and not thought beyond it. But, alas, they were smart! Smart enough to come up Method 4 of using a pulley to carry the water bucket up the hill rather than doing the tough part themselves. With Method 4, they have innovated and excelled in the function of bringing water to the monastery by reducing their own physical effort and by eliminating the human element on the toughest part of the job, the climb! Now, without any doubt, isn’t Method 4 the most productive of all? Certainly, yes! And how has it come about? By Innovation! By working smart and not hard! It is true that the monks did innovate to an extent with the previous 3 Methods. Yet, the innovation was meant for improvement alone and when such a course is followed, the results tend to be stymied to an upper cap. With the drastic innovation of Method 4, the underlying framework was re-written and a new benchmark has been set, a benchmark which has taken the task to a different level of productivity, a level incapable of being attained with the previous methods. You would have heard the phrase "think outside the box" umpteen times and wondered how it is actually done. The above example of coming up with Method 4 is a classic illustration, in my opinion, of thinking outside the box and using a pulley to lift the water bucket up the hill. 

Now, if you were to design roles in an organization, it is quite obvious which method you should opt for. Method 4 makes work seem fun! Why? Because there is a team behind it and no team member is working his socks off to accomplish the task. Each monk has a clear and defined role in the system, much like our cycling team in the Tour de France. In the end, even if a specialist in the cycling team finishes the job, it is because all the domestiques have played their part and contributed to the success of the team. This is the precise reason why in any post-stage interview of Mark Cavendish, you would expect a word of sincere gratitude to his teammates. It would have not been possible without them and Cavendish knows best. That is the mark of a true teammate!

Schlumberger – the company you have come to know, or is it?

Disclaimer: Views represented on this blog are entirely personal. They do not represent the views of any of the companies quoted in the blogs.

A look at Schlumberger from an organization’s perspective

Well, if you are not really intrigued by the title, allow me to start off by presenting a little known fact! How do you think the company name “Schlumberger” is pronounced? Is it pronounced as “SHLUM ber ger”, like every other person would pronounce it or as “Shlum bear guh” in a German style? If you knew that the founders of the company were French, then you have an edge. But, if you still get it wrong, then your edge has totally and utterly worn off! The company name is pronounced as “SLUMBER-SHEA”. Anyway, now that you have that inkling of French in your grasp, let me roll right over to what that pronunciation has got to do with this blog and the company. In my opinion, pretty much everything. Why? I allow you, dear reader, to watch the story unfold as you read along!

Loa Tzu has quoted to say “The best soldier does not attack. The superior fighter succeeds without violence. The greatest conqueror wins without struggle. The most successful manager leads without dictating. This is intelligent non-aggressiveness. This is called mastery." The entire quote, in my opinion, reflects Schlumberger and its progress and status as a company today. To justify my point better, I intend to take a personal example. I am a big Manchester United fan for one particular reason above anything else. That reason is that the club has evolved itself, its mission, its values and its philosophy to align itself to changing times in the Barclays Premier League and has kept winning trophies on a consistent basis. To win something once is great! To repeat the feat is truly satisfying! To win something over and over again is just outright heavenly. Ask Roger Federer or Lance Armstrong, for that matter, and I am sure you will get the same answer.  None of the examples that I have provided have ever been dictatorial in their behavior and neither has gone about their ways in virulent terms. Yet, they have reached the top and been at the top consistently. More so, after taking hits and falling down, they have picked themselves up and risen up to the competition. I don’t intend to circumvent the point anymore but, in my humble opinion, Schlumberger falls in the same league.

Origin & Milestones

When Marcel and Conrad Schlumberger formed the Société de Prospection Électrique in 1926, after showing to the world the feasibility of assessing reservoirs using electrical resistivity measurements, little would they have known that the company that they started off would grow to become a $ 40 billion enterprise as Schlumberger stands today. Along the way, the company has been at the forefront of development of new technologies and expanded their horizons right from the ground below to the sky below. Quite literally! The company that started off with a well logging technology went on to collaborate with NASA for the Apollo 11 moon landing program in 1969 and still continues to support space exploration today.

The spate of new and innovative products from the Schlumberger’ stable is just unprecedented. A simple fact to attest this claim is the fact that one out of every two years, the company has come up with an industry leading technology which has left the competition way behind. Right from building the first logging truck to putting the first logging-while-drilling (LWD) setup in the market and innumerable logging advancements, the company has constantly been on the mission to improve and enhance their customers’ experience and performance.

Not just with respect to new product introduction, but an even more striking feature is the fact that where organic growth wasn’t considered feasible or where the opportunity presented itself, Schlumberger has acquired numerous smaller companies with enticing technologies. Crisp and clear are not the kind of words one would associate with a company strategy quite often, but with respect to Schlumberger, the company has followed a clear strategy of acquiring half the stake in an acquisition or joint venture in many cases and has gone on to either buy out the remaining stake or, without any guilt or hesitation, gone on to sell off the acquired stake when the acquisition did not quite fit in. One of the most significant examples of this is with respect to the acquisition of Dowell Schlumberger, a joint venture between Dow Chemicals and Schlumberger Limited.

A few other sidetracks to the growth story have been the relocation of the company headquarters from Paris to Houston and the listing of the company in the NYSE as early as 1962!

Vision and Objectives

Schlumberger’s work is directed by well established company values that focus a commitment towards improving and enhancing customer performance. The values are best described by the phrases below:

·     People who thrive on the challenge to excel in any environment and are dedication to safety and customer service worldwide

• Technology and Quality as the basis for a competitive advantage
• Determination to produce superior Profits as a cornerstone for future independence of action and growth

As crisp and clear the above points sound, I am inclined to leave this section as it is, on their own!

Sustaining at the top

Haven’t you ever wondered what keeps champions going? What keeps them motivated to stay at the top once they are there? How do they sustain their hunger? Well, one of the reasons that certainly bring the best out of you is the competition. Manchester United has faced it and so have Roger Federer and Lance Armstrong. With Schlumberger it has been no different! Apart from the competition, which we will talk about in a while, the volatility and geopolitical importance of oil as a resource has further played truant apart from the fact that the company has had to contend with the resource dynamics associated with a World War as well. Yet, the approach of the company when faced with unforeseen circumstances, the 1986 oil price collapse and the associated affect on global exploration for instance has been stupendous to say the least. As a hyperbole, Newton’s third law has not held true since an action from the outside world has lead to an even bigger reaction! But, on a rather realistic note, from Schlumberger’s perspective, the company at the time, Euan Baird, laid a greater emphasis on R&D to develop a host of new products which served the company very well indeed, during the resurgence period. A demo of one of the products from Schlumberger is here. 

But, to come back to the competition that Schlumberger has had to contend over the years and still today, Halliburton, Baker Hughes and National OilWell Varco have given Schlumberger a real run for their money. A revenue comparison would not provide the same picture with Schlumberger’s $40 billion kitty seconded by Halliburton with a little more than half that turnover. However, we are talking about technology development for the oil and gas industry where where product differentiation is key as there are only so many customers out there. Not everyone in the world would drill down in search for oil. And hence, higher revenues certainly talks volumes about Schlumberger’s product portfolio and customer base. Watch Jim Cramer,  a Wall Street professional analyze Schlumberger against its prime competitor, Halliburton here.

The pie-chart below depicts the revenues in 2011 in $ billion. 

Setting the standard

How do leading companies sustain their leadership position? They get their standards right and they have the right standards. Quite simple an answer yet that bit difficult to see it done! As far as Schlumberger is concerned, they have the right standards in terms of new product introduction and targeting new and emerging markets with differentiated products of the highest quality. And they have got their standards right by a relentless focus on R & D and new acquisitions. For instance, when it comes to unconventional resources like Shale oil or Coal Bed Methane, not many companies can offer a range of solutions and services that Schlumberger can. Yet, the entire industry of unconventional resources has just picked up pace in the last two years.

Not just in terms of technology but standards need to be set in terms of people as well. Schlumberger identifies a great strength in the diversity of its workforce in terms of gender, nationality and background. But, perhaps the most striking point is that its culture is best described by the fact that the company does not have a “nationality” and operates in a truly global fashion around the world. And, with offices in 85 countries and 113,000 people being employed that is just an unbelievable achievement! In this context, the additional flexibility offered to employees in terms of moving across functions, technologies and geographies would seem like just another add-on perk! The Global Citizenship program at Schlumberger is meant to reflect the diversity and integrity of our workforce. Drawn from 140-plus nationalities working in approximately 85 countries, the employees are trained to embody the qualities of global citizens maintaining high standards of behaviour wherever Schlumberger operates. A video of the employees of a Knowledge centre in the Middle East is here.

The company, with its clarity in vision and purpose (just take a peek at the company logo again!), has created quite a conducive environment for their employees to grow along with the firm and reach newer and greater heights. It is one thing to put organizational goals and growth strategy on paper and an entirely different ball game to demonstrate it to the world. Schlumberger, to its credit, has done that in the past and in all probability, could continue to do so for the near future. The company is like a few others, none at least in its own class. Schlumberger has made a difference when it mattered, stepped up to the plate and performed without any constraints and needless to say that this very part is ingrained in its DNA now. In the words of Javeed Jaffrey from the Magie Sauce Ad, "Its Different". And, you know that I am not talking about the sauce, don't you?

Problems, probLEMS and PROBlems

Introduction to Creative Problem Solving

Life is full of them, isn’t it? Be it managerial, psychological, mathematical, chemical, physical or in the form of whatever word ending in “-al”, one has to face problems and come out with solutions. Mind you, finding the problem itself is not a child’s play in the first place, but, once found, a question remains if all problems need to be solved? What I intend to mean becomes clear when we consider that whenever faced with some problem, there are just three options. First, and the most preferred option, is to eliminate the problem forever from the root. Second acceptable choice is to conquer and change the situation to your favour. And if both fail, then accept it as-is and bear with it forever. In some cases, the third option does make sense and saves a lot of time, effort and deliberation if the problem is akin to a dog’s tail.

Problem’s out there… How to solve?

Having introduced ourselves to the problem and its nature, it can be categorized as either simple or complex. Likewise, the solutions to problems could also be simple or quite complex. If we imagine a 2 x 2 matrix of problems and solutions, then the part where complex solutions solve complex problems is the most elusive and specialized in terms of competence. Although such a combination does bring out the best, the solutions cater to a chosen few. What fun in that?

Simple Problem                              (I)                       And Simple Solution	Simple Problem                                     (II)                       And Complex Solution
Complex Problem                          (III)                                                       And Simple Solution	Complex Problem                                (IV)                                                      And Complex Solution

A common phrase in everyday parlance is K.I.S.S intending to mean “Keep it Simple, Stupid!”! A popular notion or perception is that solutions to complex problems need to be complex, more on the lines of saying “More is better”. Yet, a commonly unrecognized fact remains that, on occasions, keeping things simple is the right way to go.  

In my opinion, the mark of a genius lies in solving complex problems in a simple manner, with a deft trick of sorts. Solutions which are not understandable to the masses and cannot be reproduced are of little use, especially in a managerial sense. And, they are not very attractive, to say the least, are they? On the other hand, the subtlety and guile of a simple solution or trick captivates the audience and a single piece of a puzzle is sufficient to unravel the whole mystery. If that piece is found, you have conquered the whole thing!

A simple example of a Rubik’s cube comes to mind. On the face of it, the cube presents a complex problem to be solved in terms of aligning coloured faces once scrambled. Since the scrambling is random, a host of problems can be devised. Yet, the knowledge of a generic algorithm does the trick and is enough to solve each and every problem. This is a basic tenet of Creative Problem Solving. The solution to the problem lies in a subtle step which makes the solution simple. Yet, when that step is known, the nature of the problem and the solution both get undermined. Perhaps this is the reason why the whole thing becomes trivial and the purpose or learning behind the whole process is lost.

Creative Problem Solving

If you are thinking you have heard of problem solving before and from where this “Creative” popped in, then let me enlighten you with a fact that Creative Problem Solving basically entails creating solutions to problems from scratch rather than employ already deployed ones. A problem, simple or complex, can have multiple solutions. Each solution has a niche element associated with it and when an entrepreneur taps into a particular solution, an organization is born. The Khan Academy was born out of a problem of educating kids. Hasn’t this been solved before? Yet, why has the way Khan Academy has grown in terms of popularity the way it has? It is just that the entire process of pedagogy is made simpler and more interactive. A niche way to solve a known problem and there you go, the man is a hero today!

Solutions to the problem of education have been found before yet none simpler than what Sal Khan thought of. The differentiating factor lies in the solution yet, in retrospect, couldn’t anyone have made a video at home to teach stuff and posted it in YouTube?

Being simple is complex

Seems ironical, isn’t it? Why should being simple be difficult? Most of us have heard the phrase “Common sense is uncommon in common people”. It is a wonder as to why that should be true. One reason might be that our minds are trained and oriented towards convention, towards a notion that as problems get bigger, so do the solutions. We are essentially moving just between quadrants I and IV in the matrix and somewhere down the line we missed the existence of the other two quadrants. Of course, quadrant II is not fancied at all. But, quadrant III is where the fun lies!

We all want fun to be part of our lives. So, how do we make ourselves fit in quadrant III? As they say, the first step towards solving a problem is to BEGIN. And, probably we are going wrong in the first step itself by not creating solutions but incorporating solutions learnt from someplace else. Perhaps, Edward de Bono can help us out with one of his videos here. Or perhaps what makes things complex is that we do not have an outlook, a goal to look forward to and direct our efforts towards achieving that goal.

Creativity in Organizations

The “Survival of the fittest” rule for organizations in the new age world can better be modified to be called survival of the cleverest, nippiest and the most innovative for organizations need to constantly innovate and come up with creative solutions to customer requirements posing as problems. Failure to do so can lead to obsolescence pretty soon. Not just create and innovate, an organization needs to take that step further and maintain its supremacy over time. Take the case of Motorola, for example, which invented the cell phone. Others have gone ahead and beyond with that technology now with Samsung leading from the front and Motorola has well and truly missed the bus.

And, no organization can learn to be creative in a day right? You either have that creative edge in your DNA, like Google or Apple, or hire creative people so that the organizational culture is transitioned over time. As organizations grow and prosper, problems are faced on a larger, more complex scale. And, if you have read till now, it should be aptly clear that the simpler the solution to a complex problem, the better it is! 

Khan Academy: Humanizing Education

Revolution in Education

Given the number of startups springing up in recent times, it is intriguing to know the qualities of an entrepreneur when it comes to carving out an opportunity and differentiating one’s product or service from the others. Is it really that easy? Perhaps yes, as epitomized by Salman Khan, a Bangladeshi American, who started out with the Khan Academy in 2006, now a non-profit organization involved in providing online education content. What makes it look easy is that the idea sprung up when Sal Khan, as he is affectionately known, decided to put up videos in YouTube to teach his cousin. But then, therein lies the subtle trick of identifying an opportunity and making the utmost use of it. And, Sal Khan certainly did that!

High Quality Education to Anyone Anywhere

That is the Vision of Khan Academy to provide high quality education content accessible to anyone in any corner of the world. Most entrepreneurs start up their venture and start to scale up to bring in revenues. They focus on revenue models first rather than a social cause. Few start-up ventures might have gone on to ditch their revenue models altogether and become a non-profit organization. Talk about differentiating a product or service through its features, the Khan Academy differentiates itself in its vision and mission. Quality and reach of education to masses the world over has been of primary concern to governments the world over and to UNESCO. To counter the problem with the use of technology with such deftness, as the Khan Academy has displayed, is revolutionary indeed. Sal Khan talks about the concept of a global classroom where any student from anywhere in the world can be mentored or act as a mentor by any other in this video and the sublime nature and simplicity associated with the thought literally blows you away.

Humanize the classroom

Managers or people in general, can be classified as Theory X or Theory Y type. People associated with Theory X tend to view the world in a pessimistic sense, more or less. Take the case of Theory X managers who would view their employees as lazy and attempt to enforce their authority in order to set employees right either by means of punishment or by constant guidance and feedback even if not desired. Proponents of Theory Y, on the other hand, are of the view that people often tend to seek and accept responsibility and often take initiatives themselves to reach their goals. This brings us to the question of which side would the teachers in the current education system, especially in India, belong to?

As a teacher, one of the primary roles is to take lectures, correct examination papers and inculcate discipline. Students are often taught under pressure and made to stick to books and conventions. Hence, the system requires a change of mindset from being Theory X oriented to one oriented towards Theory Y. How better would it be if the students can teach the basic concepts themselves and then, the teachers could use their time in the class to cater to specific needs of each student? It is a win-win situation for both students and teachers when it comes to the learning experience. This is exactly how the Khan Academy has set about its mission of changing education for the better. Teachers can focus on the learning curves of individual students and apprise themselves of topics which the students are finding difficult to understand. Basically then, the teachers can read an individual student’s mind through progress graphs like the ones below which is quite breathtaking when you come to look at it.

Here is a video describing the adoption of the Khan Academy concept at schools in Los Altos, California.

Interactive experience

Today, hardly any educational institutions adopt the approach of making the learning process fun for students. There is a dogma associated with the current education system with respect to marks and rankings. The relative academic divide that results in each class induces pressure to perform on the students and a sense of learning to apply loses focus. Herein, lies another differentiating factor with the Khan Academy with them adopting the strategy of making the learning process interactive. Badges, a map of knowledge and an interactive statistics display allows a student to track his or her progress online and build up confidence and morale. It also serves as a fillip to aim higher and perform better. Many would concur with the fact that some subjects like Mathematics are easier to relate to and apply and have an innate fun element to them. However, there are many other subjects which focus merely on theory, take geography or economics for example. Applications of concepts learnt in class are not very direct in the case of such subjects. Precisely where interactive learning comes in, learning from experience, from examples or via applications.

Let us just forget about education for a moment and digress towards how an organization functions. Organizations themselves, on the whole, have the choice to adopt Theory X or Theory Y type work culture and design. If organizations could adopt a similar model of being more interactive, can they get better out of their employees? Leading companies in the world like Google or Apple have very little hierarchy associated with them when it comes to authority and the entire process of employment is made interactive in the workplace. Watch a video here. Yes, organizations do have a topline and bottomline to be bothered about and in this very quest, encourage employees do perform better. However, the mindset is different, I would reckon. Freedom to express, interact and bring out the creative energy in their employees can equally result in an effect of getting the best out of each employee which could unleash abilities within the organization to cover that extra mile.

From the entrepreneur’s lens

So, when Sal Khan would have started off by uploading that single video on YouTube, in all probability, he would not have ever comprehended to leave his illustrious job at a hedge fund and start a new venture to bring education online. But, that is what he precisely did! And, the result? Well, a complex problem of making quality education accessible to everyone in the world has a simple solution in terms of an online database of more than 3200 videos across varied topics and subjects. All of it for a social cause as the vision of Khan Academy, an entrepreneurship venture which has sought to improve the world, portends. The success of the venture does not just lie in the number of visitors or registered users. An ulterior measure is that a kid with autism, who is struggling at school, suddenly has the power to unleash his abilities by learning online through the Khan Academy.

Anyway, let us come back to the question we started with. How can an entrepreneur carve out a niche opportunity and differentiate himself? The answer perhaps lies in fundamental aspects like awareness of an opportunity presenting itself from something taken for granted or quite mundane to developing a vision in mind and realizing itself. Either way, there is always an opportunity to improve anything in the world from its current state, however rapidly things may change. The key lies in boarding the bus! As they say, ideas are dime a dozen, it is the execution which matters!