The Instructor had spent two days stressing the need to aim high, but we were not fully convinced about it.
Then on the third day, he did something unusual that made up sit up and take notice. He made up play a team game with the following rules:
1. Each team is to build a tower by stacking small wooden blocks on top of each other. The team that builds the tallest tower in one minute would win.
2. One member from each team, who will be blindfolded has to place the blocks using just one hand. Other members of the team can guide him with helpful oral instructions, but no one else should touch the blocks.
3. If the tower falls down during the game, one can restart with a fresh tower.
4. The teams can hold 10 minutes discussions before the game to decide their strategy.
5. Each team has to guess the length of its tower before the game starts.
Looking at the challenge of guiding a blindfolded team member to reach a block, pick it up, take his hand to the right place and drop the block carefully without breaking the tower, most team guessed they could make a tower of 3 to 5 blocks in one minutes. One of the teams were extra optimistic and said they can do a tower of 10 blocks. Most of us laughed at their optimism.
As a part of strategy, most teams decided to designate one person to give oral instructions to minimize confusion. We also agreed to try and avoid the tower falling down, as this would mean wastage of precious time. This meant going slowly and carefully.
As the the first team started the game, the blind folded member got ready for instructions from the designated guide. The guide gave careful instructions - hand to the left, pick a block, hand to the right, place the block, etc. It went like a clock work for first two blocks.
After that, we realized that it was very difficult to go beyond two blocks. Very often, the third block could not be placed properly, and it caused the tower to fall down, forcing the team to start afresh. In spite of the challenge, most of the teams tried hard and managed to do 3 to 4 blocks in one minute.
Then came the turn of the team that had bid for ten blocks. All of us were sure that they are not going to reach anywhere close to their target. When their time started, we looked for the designated guide to give instructions - and were surprised to hear him say, "The blocks are on the left side, make a tower on the right side, go !"
The blind folded person did not wait for any more instructions. He groped around to reach the pile of blocks, picked up a block, and placed it on the right. Then he did one more block very quickly. He went on to do a third and by the time he came back with the fourth block, the tower fell down. It was amazing to see that the falling tower had no impact on the speed of the member. He restarted to build the tower with the same speed, with his team silently watching him. The tower broke down two to three times again, but then he got the hang of it, and managed to pile the blocks carefully without breaking the tower. The tower rapidly started gaining height with all of us watching with fascination. At the end of a minute, he could build a tower of 15 blocks !
The instructor finished the session with a very strong and elaborate talk about importance of aiming high; but I was not listening. This was an unprecedented experience that taught me several vital lessons, and my head was spinning with the implications of what I just saw with my own eyes:
- It is very important to have big dreams in your life if you want to reach high. Quiet simply, you can not achieve something if you do not aim for it. The teams that bid for a four block tower, never tried to reach beyond that.
- Do not micromanage when you delegate work to someone. Specify the expected result but not how the task has to be done. Let him carry out the task in his own way. The teams that that chose to give explicit instructions to the blindfolded member inadvertently slowed him down with these instructions. This was an eye opener for me that has benefited me immensely in my work and personal life.
- Do not avoid taking risk for fear of failure. If you fall down, get up and start moving again. The teams that avoided breaking the tower could not build a tall tower as compared to the team that did not worry about it, but simply went on with the task after the tower broke down. Very important lesson indeed. Iqbal said:
वो लोग क्या गिरेंगे जो घुटनो के बल चले
If BHAG can work for big organizations, it can work equally well for individuals also. Why not give it a try? Pick up a big hairy audacious goal that you are passionate about, but which looks a little impossible to reach and go for it whole-heartedly. It could be anything like quitting smoking, mastering a difficult skill, reducing weight, writing a book, acting on TV or movies, cracking a competitive examination, etc. There is a good chance you will achieve it if you decide to do so. Why settle for a tower of four blocks when you are capable of doing fifteen in your life?
