Risk management: Three people crossing the valley

“The bridges that you cross before you come to them are over rivers that aren't there.”

-          Gene Brown

The above quote roughly means:  barriers that are physical are reflections of the mental ones. There is an important organizational lesson to be learnt in this. Organizations are meant to facilitate the impossible, unachievable. The recipe is simple: Believe that it can be achieved, plan and deliver.

Objective

Here are three men walking but are stalled because infront of them lay a valley which they have to cross.

Problem:

1. The width of the gap between the valleys is more than a step so they canot jump over it but less than two steps.

2. There is no temporary bridge available i.e no falt platform which they can lay over the gap and walk over.

Solution:

They hold the rod together with the gap between each two of them is one footstep and they simply walk by.  The picture below demonstrates it. Surprised? Does going get this easy? Well, I shall take you through a small dry run to answer that:

Solution:

They hold the rod together with the gap between each two of them is one footstep and they simply walk by.  The picture below demonstrates it. Surprised? Does going get this easy? Well, I shall take you through a small dry run to answer that:

L1     L2     L3_______                                         Step 1: All safe

R1     R2    R3

         L1     L2     L3                                              Step 2: Person 3 half safe

R1    R2     R3

         L1     L2     L3                                              Step 3: Person 3 full unsafe

         R1     R2     R3

                   L1     L2    L3                                     Step 4: Person 2 and 3 partially safe

         R1     R2     R3

                   L1     L2    L3                                     Step 5: Person 2 fully unsafe

                   R1     R2    R3

                             L1    L2    L3                            Step 6: Person 1 and 2 partially safe

                   R1     R2    R3

                             L1    L2    L3                            Step 7: Person 1 fully unsafe

                             R1    R2   R3

                                      L1    L2    L3                   Step 8: Person 1 partially safe

                             R1    R2    R3

                                      L1    L2    L3                   Step 9: Everyone is safe

                                      R1    R2   R3

The '_______' like structure indicates the valley and Li and Ri denotes the left and right foot of the ith person.

Structuring of Task Roles:

Tasks should have certain attributes for perfect realisation of a task, which can be stated as:

1.Interlocking roles i.e. highest level of interdependency
2.Highest level of interactions among the members
3.Instantaneous feedback
4,No scope for any Social loafing

The task here is highly interdependent and provides instantenous feedback upon any mishap.

Team Excellence: 

Excellence is efficiency * effectiveness. Individual cannot achieve excellence but a team an organisation can achieve that. Efficiency and effectiveness both comes simultaneously and has to be handled simultaneously. Effectiveness is where to go? and efficiency is how to go efficiently i.e at reduced cost or enhanced safety. But to put effect efficiency one has to again think efficiently.