Management Stories

You are driving along in your car on a wild, stormy night, it’s raining heavily, when suddenly you pass by a bus stop, and you see three people waiting for a bus:

• An old lady who looks as if she is about to die.
• An old friend who once saved your life.
• The perfect partner you have been dreaming about.

Which one would you choose to offer a ride to, knowing very well that there could only be one passenger in your car?

This is a dilemma that was once used as part of a job application.

• You could pick up the old lady, because she is going to die, and thus you
  should save her first;
• * or you could take the old friend because he once saved your life, and this
  would be the perfect chance to ! pay him back.
• However, you may never be able to find your perfect mate again.

The candidate who was hired had no trouble coming up with his answer. Guess what was his answer?

He simply answered:

“I would give the car keys to my Old friend and let him take the lady to the hospital. I would stay behind and wait for the bus with the partner of my dreams.”

Sometimes, we gain more if we are able to give up our stubborn thought limitations. Never forget to “Think Outside the Box.”

Source: I have heard this story many times but don’t know the original source. Someone named Esha sent it to me via email though. If you know the original source, please do post it.

No Comments » Posted by Administrator / Innovation and Miscellaneous and Thought / Decision Making

A woman approached Picasso in a restaurant, asked him to scribble something on a napkin, and said she would be happy to pay whatever he felt it was worth. Picasso complied and then said, “That will be $10,000.”

“But you did that in thirty seconds,” the astonished woman replied.

“No,” Picasso said. “It has taken me forty years to do that.”

Source: What They Don’t Teach You at Harvard Business School by Mark H. McCormack

No Comments » Posted by Administrator / Miscellaneous

In an article from FredHarriman.com, ex-Toyota Group manager Chihiro Nakao relates his experience with Taiichi Ohno, who originated Toyota’s Lean Production in collaboration with Shigeo Shingo. Here’s the punchline:

As Mr. Taiichi Ohno drove deeper and deeper in the effort to achieve Just in Time ideals among the companies of the Toyota Group, […] the struggle was to keep people from [ordering] too much too soon from their upstream process.

In one incidence remembered by Chihiro Nakao, Mr. Ohno caught someone he knew was about to pull his materials too soon and thundered: “Who are you and where did you come from?! What makes you think you have any right to this material? Show me your kanban!!” [i.e. prove your authority!]

Such incidents demonstrated the need to “show one’s kanban” when procuring material or parts. They needed some way to prove that they had followed all the rules put in place to achieve Just in Time. Since Mr. Ohno’s demand for a “kanban” left a lasting impression, the name for the cards that were issued to limit in-process inventory […] became “kanban.”

Source: Toyota Stays Lean and Green with Kanban… Kan-who? / BNET, April 2nd, 2007

1 Comment » Posted by Administrator / History and Miscellaneous