As you know, "a fairy tale is a lie, but there is a hint in it." What can the well-known Russian folklore teach if perceived from the position of a manager?

Grandfather planted a turnip

Apparently, this is an "industry fairy tale" about an agricultural firm, and at the stage of a business start-up.

and the turnip grew big, very large.

Obviously, my grandfather bought the seeds from the Dutch, who came to Russia in the spring for an agricultural exhibition.

Grandfather began to pull a turnip from the ground -

This indicates that this agrofirm is still using manual labor to a greater extent.

pulls-pulls, cannot pull.

This is what was required to prove: the use of elite seeds without the use of modern high-performance imported planting and harvesting equipment will give much worse results than is possible with the use of modern agricultural technologies.

The grandfather called the grandmother.

A grandmother for a grandfather, a grandfather for a turnip - they pull, pull, they cannot pull.

This once again testifies to the fact that at the initial stage it is necessary to have sufficient capital to buy equipment; manual, even cheap, labor is ineffective. In addition, judging by the description below, there are no other employees in the company, and the grandmother, most likely, worked as the chief accountant of the enterprise. It is in this place that you begin to understand that knowledge is power. Grandma, working as a financial specialist for the company, most likely was not aware of modern leasing schemes for the acquisition of imported agricultural equipment. This is due to the fact that she is constantly distracted by other work, not receiving the proper qualifications either in finance or in agricultural technology. Moreover, in order to help her grandfather, she will have to stay after work for the timely preparation of the quarterly report (from the description it is clear that we are talking about the end of the third quarter of the digging activity - the time of ripening of root crops.

Grandma called her granddaughter.

Here the author of the tale marks the most important stage in the organization of management in the company. Note that it is not the grandfather who calls the granddaughter, but the grandmother. The grandfather (probably the head of the company) delegated to the grandmother (his financial assistant) the authority to use other specialists of the agricultural firm - in this case, the granddaughter. There is an adaptive organizational structure of the enterprise.

The granddaughter for the grandmother, the grandmother for the grandfather, the grandfather for the turnip - they pull, pull, they cannot pull.

Here we can assume that since there is no description of the granddaughter's parents, that the granddaughter is the daughter of a businessman who believes that the child should be involved in work from childhood, this is the correct approach to raising the future manager of an agricultural firm, almost like in the story with Lee Iacocca.

The granddaughter of the Beetle called.

Let me emphasize that delegation permeates the entire company, it does not use an autocratic management system: the granddaughter is entrusted with calling the Bug herself. At the same time, however, apparently, the author is describing precisely a Russian company, where the violation of the division of labor is the norm. The bug, instead of engaging in his direct duties - guarding the house - is attracted (not having, we note, sufficient knowledge and experience) to a new job for her. This is the result of a violation of the division of labor, as can be seen from the continuation of the tale about an agricultural firm.

A bug for a granddaughter, a granddaughter for a grandmother, a grandmother for a grandfather, a grandfather for a turnip - they pull, pull, they cannot pull. The Bug called the cat.

The author of the tale gives us an example of how the violation of the division of labor leads, in the end, to the need to use crisis management. And how else to perceive the joint work to achieve the company's priority goal of such eternally warring individuals as a dog and a cat.

A cat for a bug, a bug for a granddaughter, a granddaughter for a grandmother, a grandmother for a grandfather, a grandfather for a turnip - they pull and pull, they cannot pull.

Of course, in accounting, it would have been more expensive to call a couple of neighbors. But if you calculate the time costs, which we in Russia do not consider important, then the option chosen by the heroes turns out much more expensive, and given the opportunity costs - while the cat, also participating in a collective violation of the division of labor, pulls the turnip, the mice probably also spoiled the grain - the losses of the farm are obvious.

The Cat clicked the Mouse.

At this point, it is already obvious that the CEO of the company - the dedka - made a useful and timely, albeit costly decision - hired a management consultant. After all, there will be even more losses if the turnip, grown with such difficulty, disappears and there is nothing to pay for the bank loan received as a pledge of the future root crop harvest. And who else, if not a management consultant, suggested using such a modern, little-known management tool in our country as strategic cooperation? Look - an obvious competitor (in this case, a mouse - it does not work in Dedka's agricultural company) is involved in joint work.

Another positive point that the author of the tale describes to us is the use of a useful management tool - project management: a variety of specialists are involved in the group of those who pull the turnip.

There would be no mouse (a competitor who has become a useful partner) to think a little with his mouse head that maybe it would be better to gnaw a part of the root, that she knows how to do well (the theory of root competencies, who does not know this - download the term on the Internet). The mouse, on the other hand, continues to move in the direction of what the French specialist Edward de Bono called psychological inertia: it does what others are doing uselessly - pulls the turnip.

A mouse for a cat, a cat for a bug, a bug for a granddaughter, a granddaughter for a grandmother, a grandmother for a grandfather, a grandfather for a turnip - pull-pull - pulled out a turnip.

The only consolation presented by the author of the tale is good coordination of teamwork: the result has been achieved. And, probably, it was the grandfather who gave the command when to pull, when to rest, so that, applying in practice the principles of Frederick Taylor, to achieve the maximum return from such a diverse team, that is, he made key management decisions - when to pull, whom to put “in line behind a turnip ", etc.

This book is the central book of the Russian Management series. The previous books in the series have described how to bridge the gap between management theory and practice, which is very large. This book describes how to minimize this gap. In subsequent books, ways will be suggested - how to break out into leaders and consolidate success. The book will be useful to managers of all levels - from top managers to lower-level managers.

Part 2. "Fairy-tale management" - Fairy tales for top managers

Taking this opportunity, I will tell you how “my” fairy tales were born and I will give my not lyrical, but very pragmatic introduction.

We have an idea. Why don't top managers who have small children (or grandchildren like mine) use their time for two purposes at the same time:

Read fairy tales to their children (they still read them) and at the same time train the art of artistic reading at the same time. No one can become a Kachalov (and if they can, they will go to another profession), but during a public speech they will be heard (not a monotonous speech, but the ability to control tone, volume, speed, intonation - the elementary components of artistic reading).

We threw this idea onto the market (there is always an opportunity to check any idea through mailings - there will be subscribers - there is a need, without the latter there is no demand). We got a response. You can move on. But bad luck - this business (like any other) is very laborious. Therefore, while the idea continued to mature, the first fairy tale "Turnip" appeared.

Moreover, new opportunities have appeared:

– Tell the management of Russia the truth about the practice of our management, moreover, while not offending anyone - who would ever think to be offended by a fairy tale.

- Moreover, using a fairy tale (everyone remembers it) is a good method of associative memorization of a number of important managerial categories, etc.

- And the last thing. I am an experienced pragmatist. And I perfectly understand if I fantasized in the comments to fairy tales (invented what was not) - they would not be interesting - and I write the pure truth - that is, I describe the real situation as it is, and I understand that the reader may not think about it, but it is the truth that captivates him. At the same time, I use my personal observation experience in the process of working with clients, and not what I read in books.

And still. The fear that the reader may not quite correctly perceive the fairy tales loved in childhood as business cases remains with me. For this reason, I decided to preface tales for top managers with instructions on a sense of humor.

R. Ackoff wrote: Only the manager who is able to solve problems creatively can bring his company to the forefront. We would add - and at the same time, the top manager must have a good sense of humor.

Curious. gender- But what about the conflict between the heroes of your novel Psychology and Management?

Recently, I became interested in the topic of developing a sense of humor (I learned that in the scientific literature on psychology there is still no conviction that a sense of humor can be developed). The first exercises appeared in my trainings to develop a sense of humor among salespeople. When I began to build my own model (the topic is considered in one of the mentioned articles in the magazine "Sales Management", and at the beginning of this part you will read a comic instruction on the topic of humor), I came across a review on scientific research on the topic of humor (the book "The Psychology of Humor" , almost 500 pages, I read it once on a summer vacation, but I do not recommend the book to top managers - the book is only for narrow specialists, very difficult, the cat cried anecdotes to illustrate in the book). I consider my achievement to be the discovery of the common (this is common - the scientific method) - in the psychology of humor and ARIZ30 - the strongest method for solving problems, and problem solving is the central task of any manager. If you want to improve your skills in management - develop a sense of humor - I came to this conclusion as a result of my research in the field of Management and Psychology.

Relationships have become harmonious

Finally, the relationship between Management and Psychology improved in joint work - while preparing the latest publications for the magazines "Personal Sales" and "Sales Management". One explores “overcoming salesperson laziness” and linking this topic to overcoming resistance in the company.

Curious. gender- But what about the marriage for the calculation of Management and Sales?

Happy end

But even if you are not a woman, you are right in your curiosity, especially since Sales and Management are waiting for their child - a book on the new technique "Management-Sales" is in the plans. But the relationship of this trio (Management, Sales and Psychology) is very simple and harmonious. Management is a responsible man (for that he and Management) is expecting a new "child" (a book on sales), and now he is connected with Psychology only by business relations.

As for business relations, we are talking about preparing a series of trainings on team building, conflict management, effective communications for top managers, where both Management and Psychology are equal partners. There is also the idea of ​​one startup for teaching foreign languages ​​to adults, where both management and psychology are equally important as applied sciences for this project (an independent book on this topic with the title "Adventures of English" may be published).

How to develop a sense of humor

Instructions

I don’t promise that each of you will write classic humorous stories after reading this manual, but who knows ...

Difficulty level:Easily

What you need:

The first object, for example a woman

Second object, such as a cigarette

Scientific method (observation, analysis and synthesis)

Step 1

Understand what humor is.

Recently I read something like this in one book:

A sense of humor is the ability to find common ground between two or more objects that are sufficiently distant from each other.

Remember old jokes:

What are the Similarities Between the Eiffel Tower and Female Legs(= the higher you climb, the more breathtaking)

What are the similarities between a woman and a cigarette? (=????????)

Step 2

So, take the first object. We observe and analyze it- mentally decompose it into parts.

For example, a man - what does he consist of? He has a nose, hands, with which he continuously presses on the TV remote control (by the way, at this time it is best to watch him - he is completely absorbed by the remote control), and, of course, a very big belly - because women are in the kitchen from morning till night ...

Step 3

Take object number two.(For example, a "valid" handbag.) We do the same with him.

We describe its components and characteristics - the handbag has (usually) a handle, it smells delicious from the handbag, what is not there, etc.

Step 4

We are looking for and we find some similarity between distant objects (in our example - a Man and a handbag).

Step 5

We literally process all this – Thus, we synthesize the obtained results. For example, we compose our first joke in our life:

What are the similarities between a man and a handbag?

= In the fact that a lot of things are removed in both.

Step 6

We practically apply the acquired sense of humor (the ability to find common ground between distant objects) in our life.

Jerome Klapka Jerome in his novel Three on Four Wheels (a sequel to the famous novel Three Men in a Boat ...) describes the history of a French textbook.

A certain author wrote a satire on how the English speak French and brought his book to the editor. After a while, the editor informed him that the book was wonderful. But ... only a small part of the readers will understand the author's subtle and delicate humor. That is why the editor invites the author to publish this book as ... a serious textbook, promising that the book will find its reader, since it is about such textbooks that they teach in schools - teachers will be delighted.

For the beginning satirist, money turned out to be more important than fame, and he agreed. In the "textbook" only a small dictionary was added. The edition was sold out very quickly.

(as you can see, Jerome Klapka Jerome found common ground between serious textbooks of the French language and, in fact, a parody of it, to such a funny degree).

Tips and Warnings

Develop a sense of humor in yourself (now it's clear how - look for similarities where, it seemed, it was not at all). Humor will save you from illness (see data from doctors for the entire history of mankind), and most importantly, it will help in difficult times. And if you, like me, live in Russia, then only humor will save you.

(NOTE for those who do not know the answer about the general between a woman and a cigarette, the answer is = before use, both must be thoroughly crushed.)

Chapter 1. Fairy tales for the little ones

Turnip31

NS grandfather laid siege to the turnip

- Apparently, this is an “industry fairy tale” about an agricultural firm, and at the stage of a business start-up.

and the turnip grew big, very large

- Obviously, my grandfather bought the seeds from the Dutch, who came to us in Russia in the spring for an agricultural exhibition.

Grandfather began to pull a turnip from the ground -

- This indicates that this agrofirm is still using manual labor to a greater extent.

pulls-pulls, cannot pull

- What was required to prove: the use of elite seeds without the use of modern high-performance imported planting and harvesting equipment will give a much worse result than is possible with the use of modern agricultural technologies.

Grandfather called grandma

A grandmother for a grandfather, a grandfather for a turnip - they pull, pull, they cannot pull.

- This once again testifies to the fact that at the initial stage you need to have sufficient capital to buy equipment; manual, even cheap, labor is ineffective. In addition, judging by the description below, there are no other employees in the company, and the grandmother, most likely, worked as the chief accountant of the enterprise. It is in this place that you begin to understand that knowledge is power. Grandma, working as a financial specialist for the company, most likely was not aware of modern leasing schemes for the acquisition of imported agricultural equipment. This is due to the fact that she is constantly distracted by other work, not receiving the proper qualifications either in finance or in agricultural technology. Moreover, in order to help her grandfather, she will have to stay after work for the timely preparation of the quarterly report (from the description it is clear that we are talking about the end of the third quarter of the digging activity - the time of ripening of root crops.

Grandma called her granddaughter

- Here the author of the tale marks the most important stage in the organization of management in the company. Note that it is not the grandfather who calls the granddaughter, but the grandmother. The grandfather (probably the head of the company) delegated to the grandmother (his financial assistant) the authority to use other specialists of the agricultural firm - in this case, the granddaughter. On the face adaptive organizational structure of the enterprise.

The granddaughter for the grandmother, the grandmother for the grandfather, the grandfather for the turnip - they pull, pull, they cannot pull.

- Here we can assume, since there is no description of the granddaughter's parents, that the granddaughter is the daughter of a businessman who believes that the child should be involved in work from childhood, this is the right approach to raising the future manager of an agricultural firm, almost like in the story with Lee Iacocca.

Granddaughter Clicks Bug

- Let me emphasize that delegation permeates the entire company, it does not use an autocratic management system: the granddaughter is entrusted to call the Bug herself. At the same time, however, apparently, the author is describing precisely a Russian company, where the violation of the division of labor is the norm. The bug, instead of engaging in his direct duties - guarding the house - is attracted (not having, we note, sufficient knowledge and experience) to a new job for her. This is the result of a violation of the division of labor, as can be seen from the continuation of the tale about an agricultural firm.

A bug for a granddaughter, a granddaughter for a grandmother, a grandmother for a grandfather, a grandfather for a turnip - they pull, pull, they cannot pull. The Bug called the cat.

- The author of the tale gives us an example of how the violation of the division of labor leads, in the end, to the need to use crisis management. And how else to perceive the joint work to achieve the company's priority goal of such eternally warring individuals as a dog and a cat.

A cat for a bug, a bug for a granddaughter, a granddaughter for a grandmother, a grandmother for a grandfather, a grandfather for a turnip - they pull and pull, they cannot pull.

- Of course, in accounting, it would have been more expensive to call a couple of neighbors. But if you calculate the time costs, which we in Russia do not consider important, then the option chosen by the heroes turns out much more expensive, and given the opportunity costs - while the cat, also participating in a collective violation of the division of labor, pulls the turnip, the mice probably also spoiled the grain - the losses of the farm are obvious.

Cat Clicks Mouse

- At this point, it is already obvious that the general director of the company - the dedka - made a useful and timely, albeit costly decision - he hired a management consultant. After all, there will be even more losses if the turnip, grown with such difficulty, disappears and there is nothing to pay for the bank loan received as a pledge of the future root crop harvest. Who else, if not a management consultant, suggested using such a modern, little-known management tool in Russia as strategic cooperation? Look - an obvious competitor (in this case, a mouse - it does not work in Dedka's agricultural company) is involved in joint work.

Another positive point that the author of the tale describes to us is the use of a useful management tool - project management: a variety of specialists are involved in the group of those who pull the turnip.

There would be no mouse (a competitor who has become a useful partner) to think a little with his mouse head that maybe it would be better to gnaw a part of the root, that she knows how to do well (theory core competencies, who does not know this - download the term on the Internet). The mouse, on the other hand, continues to move in the direction of what the French specialist Edward de Bono called psychological inertia: it does what others are doing uselessly - pulls the turnip.

A mouse for a cat, a cat for a bug, a bug for a granddaughter, a granddaughter for a grandmother, a grandmother for a grandfather, a grandfather for a turnip - pull-pull - pulled out a turnip.

- The only consolation presented by the author of the tale is good coordination of teamwork: the result has been achieved. And, probably, it was the grandfather who gave the command when to pull, when to rest, so that, applying in practice the principles of Frederick Taylor, to achieve the maximum return from such a diverse team, that is, he made key management decisions - when to pull, whom to put “in line behind a turnip ", etc.

Russian management versus American. My blog Curious. gender- Isn't it too late for the CEO to start reading fairy tales?

Curious. gender- Tell us more about fairy tale therapy, very curious.

The first thing I decided to do was to risk introducing a new term - fairy tale therapy for top managers.

I admit that the fairy tale therapists from the "Institute of Fairy Tale Therapy" (St. Petersburg) will not only get very angry with me, but also attribute me to their antipodes.

In any case, I am writing my blog, and I have a very specific task to figure out whether such a new term has the right to exist. And once you figure it out, then, of course, not at once.

So, in psychology, or rather in practical psychology, there is a very large number of areas that have already established themselves as successful for solving certain practical problems.

Fairytale therapy is one of such practical psychologies, which fundamentally differs from all others not in that it was born recently ("15-20 years ago" - TD Zinkevich - Evstigneeva. Fundamentals of Fairytale Therapy, 2000), but, most importantly, in that it was born in Russia.

Today, fairy tale therapy is used to work not only with young children (the main target audience of fairy tale therapists), but also with adolescents and even adults.

Top managers are adults. But at the same time, they often behave like children, and sometimes quite impulsively - almost like teenagers.

So top managers may well be the object of fairy tale therapy. Here I have no discrepancies with certified fairy tale therapists yet.

P.S. If, as a result of my little research, a definition of the specified term appears, it would be great. But I admit that it can turn out, on the contrary, a parody, but I do not set such a goal.

Russian folk tale32

WITH There is a teremok in the field. A little mouse is running past. She saw the teremok, stopped and asked: - Terem-teremok! Who lives in the mansion? Nobody responds. The mouse entered the little house and began to live in it.

Here, without a doubt, folk wisdom anticipated Article 225 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation - "Ownerless things", however, in accordance with paragraph 3 of this article, the mouse must register the teremok, and after a year, through the courts, it can acquire legal rights to the specified real estate ownerless.

A frog-frog galloped to the tower and asks: - A tower-tower! Who is in the tower lives? - I, little mouse! And who are you? - And I'm a frog-frog. - Come live with me! The frog jumped into the teremok. They began to live together.

– Here we observe how the owner of a recently unattended real estate launches a start-up of a new business for leasing Teremka to a frog. And it is quite understandable that the author of the tale does it as if casually, imperceptibly, thus emphasizing the intangibility of any service.

A runaway bunny is running by. He stopped and asked: - Terem-teremok! Who lives in the mansion? - I, little mouse! - I, frog-frog! And who are you? - And I'm a runaway bunny. - Come live with us! Hare gallop into the teremok! The three of them began to live.

– The little mouse shows a professional approach to doing business, in particular, in promoting the proposed service for renting out a part of the tower. The best ad is to emphasize that it already has one guest - a frog frog.

There is a little fox-sister. She knocked on the window and asked: - Terem-teremok! Who lives in the mansion? - I, little mouse. - I, frog-frog. - I, runaway bunny. And who are you? - And I'm a little fox sister. - Come live with us! The chanterelle climbed into the teremok. The four of them began to live.

– Teremok is an economic fairy tale. It focuses on the complex but very important categories of doing business: the effect of scale and diminishing returns.

The use of one and the same teremk while increasing the number of its guests is an example of the competent use of economies of scale. But this cannot happen indefinitely: if the first guests got into the teremok easily (the frog - jumped, bunny - popped in), then the chanterelle - already with difficulty in it climbed.)

A top-gray flank came running, looked through the door and asked: - Terem-teremok! Who lives in the mansion? - I, little mouse. - I, frog-frog. - I, runaway bunny. - I, little fox-sister. And who are you? - And I'm a top-gray flank. - Come live with us! The wolf climbed into the teremok. The five of them began to live.

– Our guess is confirmed - the wolf has barely climbed into the teremok, the profit has been made, but its further increase runs into the limitation of the possibilities of using the unchanged material resource - the teremok.

Here they all live in the house, they sing songs.

– Here it can be assumed that the guests made part of the payment for accommodation by barter - they sang their songs to the mouse. Together with them, the little mouse sang: the profit is dripping, and psychologists do not advise keeping joy in oneself, like grief.

Suddenly a clumsy bear walks past. The bear saw the teremok, heard the songs, stopped and roared at the top of his lungs: - Terem-teremok! Who lives in the mansion? - I, little mouse. - I, frog-frog. - I, runaway bunny. - I, little fox-sister. - I, a top-gray barrel. And who are you? - And I'm a clubfoot bear. - Come live with us! The bear climbed into the teremok. Climb-climb, climb-climb - could not get in and said: - I'd rather live on your roof. - Yes, you will crush us! - No, I won't crush you. - Well, get in! The bear climbed onto the roof and just sat down - fuck! - crushed the teremok.

– Economies of scale cannot be used indefinitely. From a certain moment, there is a diminishing return - which was demonstrated by the bear by crushing the teremok.

The little tower crackled, fell on its side and fell apart. We barely managed to jump out of it: a mouse-louse, a frog-frog, a runaway bunny, a chanterelle-sister, a top-gray barrel - all safe and sound.

- A The second of the tale warns businessmen: do not save on trifles, be sure to insure civil liability, otherwise the problems that have arisen (God forbid, someone would be crushed in the house) can ruin your business.

They began to carry logs, saw boards - to build a new teremok. They built better than before!

– At this point, the author of the tale uses placement - advertising insurance services. Obviously, no construction of a larger hotel and, moreover, the hiring of recent guests to work to expand the business would have been impossible if the little mouse had not insured her teremok in advance.

Russian management versus American. My blog.

Curious. gendir - and in fairy tale therapy special fairy tales are invented?

FAIRY TREATMENT FOR TOP-MANAGERS

We will continue our research on the topic "Does the management term indicated in the title have the right to exist?"

Let's try to figure out who and why writes fairy tales in fairy tale therapy, in relation to top managers.

1. In fairy tale therapy (Zinkevich-Evstigneeva. Fairy tale therapy, 2010), already well-known fairy tales are primarily used. If the client of this method of practical psychology is a child, then together with him the fairy tale therapist can analyze the meaning of this or that fairy tale.

2. New fairy tales are invented by the therapists themselves to consider a particular clinical case (psychological problem of the client). And since a management consultant acts as a doctor for a top manager, fairy tales written by consultants (experts, business analysts, etc.) relate precisely to this case.

I did a little research in the international community of managers ([broken link] hereinafter - E-he), where I wrote my blog, on the topic of who writes new management tales and found that the overwhelming majority are just consultants or, one might assume, - fairy tale therapists for top managers.

It should be noted that a certain division of labor is already taking shape in fairy-tale therapy - in particular, specialists are distinguished who are better at inventing fairy tales - as it turned out, there are a lot of such specialists on E-xe.

3. However, in the course of solving a particular problem of a fairy tale therapist, fairy tales are also invented by the clients of this method.

It turns out that if we stumble upon such a fairy tale from a top manager or a specialist at E-he, then this is the very case. Further, the fairy tale therapist helps to decipher a fairy tale invented, for example, by a child (if the client of the fairy tale therapist is a child).

As far as I understand, in some ways the function of fairy tales, invented by the client, is similar to the descriptions of dreams or free associations of the client used for analysis by a psychoanalyst (note that the creators of fairy tale therapy point to the well-known Carl Gustav Jung as one of their sources).

Since I do not know how to invent new fairy tales (in any case, I have never tried it), it turns out that when I interpret famous fairy tales, I use fairy tale therapy in its classical form, where the corps of top managers acts as a client.

Chapter 2. Favorite fairy tales

The Tale of Ivan Tsarevich, the Firebird and the Gray Wolf33

In some there was a kingdom, in a certain state there was a king named Vyslav Andronovich. He had three sons, Tsarevich: the first was Dimitri Tsarevich, the other was Vasily Tsarevich, and the third was Ivan Tsarevich.

That tsar Vyslav Andronovich had a garden so rich that no other state had it better; in that garden there were various expensive trees with fruits and without fruits, and the king had one favorite apple tree, and all golden apples grew on that apple tree. The firebird got into the habit of flying to the Tsar. on her feathers are gold, and the eyes are like oriental crystal. She flew to that garden every night and sat on the beloved Vyslav the Tsar's apple tree, plucked golden apples from it and flew away again.

Don't go to a fortune-teller - it's about Mother Russia: they are stealing!

Tsar Vyslav Andronovich was very upset about that apple tree that the firebird plucked many apples from it; why he called his three sons to him and said to them: “My dear children! Which one of you can catch a firebird in my garden? Whoever catches her alive, to him during my life I will give half of the kingdom, and after death, that's all. " Then the children of his princes cried out unanimously: “Dear sir-father, your royal majesty! With great joy we will try to catch the living firebird. "

On the first night, Dimitri Tsarevich went to watch in the garden and, sitting down under the apple tree from which the firebird picked apples, fell asleep and did not hear how that firebird flew in and nibbled a lot of apples.

Instead of hiring a private security company, a private security company, we start a subsistence economy.

In the morning, Tsar Vyslav Andronovich summoned his son Dimitri Tsarevich to him and asked: "What, my dear son, have you seen the firebird or not?" He answered his parent: “No, my dear sir-father! She did not come that night. "

The next night, Vasily Tsarevich went to the garden to guard the firebird. He sat down under the same apple tree and, sitting for an hour or two nights, fell asleep so deeply that he did not hear the firebird flying in and nibbling the apples. In the morning the Tsar Exiled called him to him and asked: "What, my dear son, have you seen the firebird or not?" - “Dear sir-father! She did not come that night. "

End of introductory snippet.

Grandfather planted a turnip

(Apparently, this is an "industry fairy tale" about an agricultural firm, and at the stage of a business start-up.)

and the turnip grew big, very large.
(Obviously, my grandfather bought the seeds from the Dutch, who came to Russia in the spring for an agricultural exhibition.)

Grandfather became a turnip from the ground to pull -
(This indicates that this agrofirm is still using manual labor to a greater extent.)

pulls-pulls, cannot pull.
(Which was required to prove: the use of elite seeds without the use of modern high-performance imported planting and harvesting equipment will give much worse results than is possible with the use of modern agricultural technologies.)

Grandfather called grandma.
(From the description of the author of the tale, it follows that we are dealing with a specific family agricultural firm. At the same time, as we can see, age is not an obstacle to an entrepreneur even in such a difficult business as growing root crops.)

Grandma for a grandfather, grandfather for a turnip - pull, pull, cannot pull.
(This once again indicates that at the initial stage you need to have sufficient capital to buy equipment; manual, even cheap, labor is ineffective. In addition, judging by the description below, there are no other employees in the company, and the grandmother most likely worked as the main an accountant of an enterprise. It is in this place that you begin to understand that knowledge is power. The grandmother, working as a financial specialist of the company, most likely was not aware of modern leasing schemes for the acquisition of imported agricultural equipment. This is due to the fact that she is constantly distracted by other work, not getting the proper qualifications in either finance or agricultural technology. Moreover, in order to help her grandfather, she will have to stay after work to prepare the quarterly report on time (from the description it is clear that we are talking about the end of the third quarter of the digging activity - the time for the ripening of root crops.)

Grandma called her granddaughter.
(Here the author of the tale marks the most important stage in setting up management in the company. Note that it is not the grandfather who calls the granddaughter, but the grandmother. The grandfather (probably the head of the company) delegated the grandmother (his financial assistant) the authority to use other specialists of the agricultural firm - in this case, the granddaughter. On the face adaptive organizational structure of the enterprise.)

The granddaughter for the grandmother, the grandmother for the grandfather, the grandfather for the turnip - they pull, pull, they cannot pull.
(Here we can assume that since there is no description of the granddaughter's parents, that the granddaughter is the daughter of a businessman who believes that the child should be involved in work from childhood, this is the correct approach to raising the future manager of an agricultural firm, almost like in the history of Lee Iacocca.)

Granddaughter Clicks Bug.
(I emphasize that delegation permeates the entire company, it does not use an autocratic management system: the granddaughter is entrusted to call the Bug herself. However, apparently, the author is describing precisely a Russian company where violation of the division of labor is normal. Bug, instead of that in order to engage in her direct duties - guarding the house - she is attracted (without, let us note, sufficient knowledge and experience) to work new for her. This is the result of a violation of the division of labor, as can be seen from the continuation of the tale about an agricultural firm.)

A bug for a granddaughter, a granddaughter for a grandmother, a grandmother for a grandfather, a grandfather for a turnip - they pull, pull, they cannot pull. The Bug called the cat.
(The author of the tale gives us an example of how the violation of the division of labor leads, in the end, to the need to use crisis management. And how else to perceive the joint work to achieve the company's priority goal of such eternally warring individuals as a dog and a cat.)

A cat for a bug, a bug for a granddaughter, a granddaughter for a grandmother, a grandmother for a grandfather, a grandfather for a turnip - they pull and pull, they cannot pull.
(Of course, in accounting, it would be more expensive to call a couple of neighbors. But if you calculate the time costs that we in Russia do not consider important, then the option chosen by the heroes turns out much more expensive, and taking into account the opportunity costs - while the cat is also participating in a collective violation division of labor, pulls the turnip, the mice probably also spoiled the grain - the losses of the economy are obvious.)

Cat Clicks Mouse.
(At this point, it is already obvious that the CEO of the company - Dedka - made a useful and timely, albeit an expensive decision - hired a management consultant. After all, there will be even more losses if the turnip grown with such difficulty disappears and there is nothing to pay for the loan in the bank, received as a pledge of the future harvest of root crops. And who else, if not a management consultant, suggested using such a modern, little-known in Russia management tool as strategic cooperation? Look - an obvious competitor (in this case, the mouse is not in Dedka's agrofirm works) involved for joint work.
Another positive point that the author of the tale describes to us is the use of a useful management tool - project management: a variety of specialists are involved in the group of those who pull the turnip.
There would be no mouse (a competitor who has become a useful partner) to think a little with his mouse head that maybe it would be better to gnaw a part of the root, that she knows how to do well (theory core competencies, who does not know this - download the term on an Internet). The mouse continues to move in the direction that the French specialist Edward de Bono called psychological inertia: it does what others are doing to no avail - pulls the turnip.)

A mouse for a cat, a cat for a bug, a bug for a granddaughter, a granddaughter for a grandmother, a grandmother for a grandfather, a grandfather for a turnip - pull-pull - pulled out a turnip.
(The only consolation presented by the author of the tale is good coordination of teamwork: the result has been achieved. And, probably, it was the grandfather who gave the command when to pull, when to rest, so that, applying the principles in practice Frederick Taylor, to achieve the maximum return from such a diverse team, that is, made key management decisions - when exactly to pull, who to put behind whom “in line for a turnip”, etc.)

| 25.11.2015

During one of the specialized IT conferences, in a conversation with a colleague, the question arose: how should IT management in Russia differ from IT management in the West? To which an immediate response followed: "We would have something American, European ..."

Indeed, we use standard “global” instruments, strive to comply with generally accepted standards, and focus on the best world practices. It is quite logical to assume that the activities of the IT department in Russia are no different from those in the USA, Germany, England, etc. However, sometimes you can hear about the immaturity of a typical Russian IT department, as well as of a business. The specifics of the legacy of the “difficult past” are often noted: a tendency to underfunding, distrust of outsourcing, a shortage of qualified managers, general instability of the environment external to the IT department and, as a result, lack of long-term planning, IT architecture and IT strategy.

Nevertheless, attempts to follow best practices and a scientific approach to IT management (specifically to management, not to the actual technology solutions used by the IT department) cause some sense of inferiority among IT leaders. Disproportionately large efforts lead to rather pale results, a beautiful and stable scheme has to be bypassed by manual control, because the business said "it is necessary - here and now."

Small digression. The situation when "generally accepted" decisions were not the only correct ones has already taken place in the world management practice. At one time, the Americans, focused on their own and European practices (considering, of course, they are the only true ones), were surprised to notice that the Japanese had created an extremely productive production model that was fundamentally different from their own. What we now know as "Lean Manufacturing" is a relatively new phenomenon, rooted not in methodology, but in culture - Japanese culture.

Russian managerial and industrial culture also has its own characteristics, they are most vividly set out in the book by Alexander Prokhorov "Russian model of management". I will refrain from praises - they have already been sung many times, in particular on the pages of the IT Manager (see the article by the well-known project management expert Pavel Alferov in No. 5 for 2014), I will only note that, despite the fact that most of the reviews that I have met still range from "interesting!" to complete delight, almost all of them are accompanied by the question: "What to do with this?" Separate attempts to answer it, to draw practical conclusions in one area or another were sometimes made (for example, in the above-mentioned article, a view from the side of project management), however, I have not yet met a projection onto the area of ​​IT department management.

In my opinion, the answer to the above question sounds like this: the Russian specificity of IT management consists primarily in the fact that IT consumers are carriers of the Russian mentality, Russian culture, and they are also employees of IT departments.

The present moment is a difficult time for the country and business. Many have already faced crisis challenges when, instead of the usual planned work, rush jobs come, and the business sets tasks with a "yesterday" deadline and IT understands that the deadline is really that. In this difficult time, understanding and using Russian specifics will be especially important, and in some cases may become a factor of survival.

The tale of the turnip

An excellent example of the Russian mentality is given by the author of the "Russian Model of Management" - this is "Turnip", one of the first fairy tales that we learn in childhood.

Let's consider the plot in more detail. Some efforts were made - the turnip was planted. Then the turnip somehow grew by itself. At a certain stage, it became clear that the turnip had grown large (and was going to grow - "very large"), but no measures were taken. And finally, the finale: a total mobilization was carried out, women, children, elders of conscription age and even the enemy of the people - a pest mouse - are used for a common cause.

So, the first Russian feature that we encounter in practice is the tendency to "rush" problem solving. Even modern folklore ("Popular omen: if a programmer is already at work at eight in the morning, then he is still at work") only confirms this thesis.

Generally speaking, science says that one of the tasks of a manager is precisely to prevent rush jobs and the transition from planned / project activities to situational management. However, it is precisely for IT, as the circulatory system of modern business (especially in the current unstable Russian realities), that rush jobs are characteristic and even organic. Moreover, as practice shows (in full accordance with the "Russian model of management"), we are able to achieve outstanding results in a situation of rush jobs. A few more words about cultural differences.

How different cultures work

A Japanese (Asian) grandfather, having planted a turnip, would immediately begin to think what threatens his harvest. I would hang monitoring on the turnip, all the time the turnip grows, I would take measures to limit its growth, and from a certain stage I would build a repository structure. This is Lean, this is Kaizen.

An American grandfather, seeing at a certain stage the turnip's tendency to hypertrophy, would immediately develop an appropriate plan and equipment. This is classic Western management.

The Russian grandfather, as we have already noted, took emergency measures in an emergency: he mobilized and redistributed resources. This is the Russian management model.

Renowned IT management expert Vladimir Ananyin proposed the following interpretation:

There is a Gantt chart of a certain process and two points - the emergence of a threat and the implementation of the threat. The Asian model seeks to prevent the emergence of a threat, the classical Anglo-Saxon model - to quickly eliminate / compensate for the threat, and the Russian model is waiting for implementation and acts according to circumstances. Our most efficient agency is the Emergencies Ministry.

Two states of the Russian management model; motivation and repression; motivational typology

One of the main tenets of the Russian model is the two-state model - in normal times, any organizational unit (including the IT department) is in one of two states - calm, in which, in particular, work is being done half-heartedly, and crisis, when productivity increases several times and outstanding results are achieved. The key methods of transferring employees to a crisis mode of functioning are expectedly exaggerated carrots and sticks. In order for the employees to realize that the order "not a step back" is not a joke, there should be barrage detachments with machine guns behind - "whoever is not with us is against us." On the other hand, the results are also rewarded exaggeratedly: Stakhanov moved from the Luhansk region to the capital's "House on the Naberezhnaya" and from the underground face to the People's Commissariat of the Coal Industry.

How do you know who to repress? And how to justify to the management why it is necessary to repress this particular employee? How to understand what is the most delicious gingerbread for a given employee? Here it would be very appropriate to use a tool that, unfortunately, is still rarely found in the practice of Russian IT departments, who are not inclined to use the achievements of "not quite exact sciences" such as sociology, psychology, etc., - identification of work motivation... In general, the identification of work motivation can significantly increase productivity, and sometimes without increasing costs. The author has a very successful experience in applying Gerchikov's typology (both in "peacetime" and in times of crisis), which is especially convenient because it is detected by a very simple test.

Gerchikov's typology: five basic types of employee motivation - four types of achievement motivation and one type of avoidance motivation.

Instrumental type: for his representative, work itself is not a value - but a reward is a value. He works well when it pays well (in his opinion). Can work overtime for adequate remuneration (our friend's grandfather is not very fond of growing turnips, but this is food for his family and, possibly, a source of money).

Master type: works voluntarily and well, loves his area of ​​responsibility. If this is "his job", "it will lay on the bones." He is poorly managed by administrative methods - he does not need to be ordered, he needs to be persuaded. Ideal for relatively autonomous areas of responsibility (grandmother's kitchen is in perfect order, but if the head of the family, grandfather, comes up to give advice on the kitchen, it may easily turn out that the frying pan is a percussion instrument).

Professional type: those who are interested in work, are interested in complex and emerging tasks. Works very well at the stages of implementation, in the tasks of "understanding". She is well motivated by interesting work (the granddaughter is a researcher, she may forget to eat, but must figure out “how it is done”).

Patriotic type: the one for whom the "common cause" is not an empty phrase, for whom the recognition and respect of colleagues and the team is important. Who is ready for real feats for the sake of a place on the Hall of Fame (praise and evaluation are important for the Bug: “Bug, you are great!”).

Avoidant type of motivation: those very proud birds, hedgehogs ("a hedgehog is a proud bird, until you kick it, it won't fly"). They work from under the stick. As a rule, the least valuable, low-skilled workers (the cat is well motivated with a broom).

When the need arises to demonstrate the end of the season of jokes, revealingly shooting and firing the representative of avoidant motivation is a great way.

Parallel governance structures

One of the important factors of efficiency in the crisis phase of the Russian management model is parallel management structures. The usual administrative hierarchy, the usual coordination and agreement mechanisms are not fast enough and not flexible enough. These can be, for example, project managers (although, let us note, in principle, their main task is precisely to prevent situational management), and maybe also local management. The most interesting thing is that such structures can sometimes take amazing, for example, collegiate forms, completely atypical for Russian business, which gravitates towards simple and divisional structures.

Cluster structures

Another characteristic of the Russian management model is cluster structures. At the grassroots levels, self-governing clusters are formed that solve one problem and bear collective responsibility for it. It is quite appropriate to note here some (but by no means complete!) Similarities with the scram team, or (even more distant) with the QRM cell in the philosophy of responsive production.

Not so long ago, a crisis problem was encountered in my practice. The landlord company, the owner of the site where the central office of the organization was located, suddenly decided ("a real war always starts suddenly") to build a residential complex on the site of the office. The deadlines were extremely tight, there was no time left for design work, and they had to be guided by and denier ". The two features described above are fully manifested. Management was carried out collectively, contrary to the accepted rigid hierarchy, and, for example, many kilometers of cable work and installation of SCS were carried out by consolidated teams consisting not only of IT service employees, but also employees of other services. At the same time, attempts at micromanagement led to answers in the spirit of “do not interfere with work,” and, interestingly, the results were more than decent.

Pareto law in IT practice

Everyone likes well-designed, fully tested and methodologically correctly implemented products. Nevertheless, in the practice of IT, as well as in business in general, the Pareto law operates: 20% of efforts give 80% of the result. In crisis conditions, the role of mobility increases, and therefore it is important to be able to get results “today”, even if this decision requires duplicate work and “actions that do not create customer value”. At the same time, however, it is important to come to an agreement with the business so that the phrase “pale result today” emphasizes the last word, not the first (black bread with tea is better today than pineapple with wine in a month - you can die of hunger).

Non-legal culture

As correctly noted in the "Russian Model of Management", there is a non-legal culture in Russia. We traditionally do not respect written laws. “For a Russian manager, it is in the order of things to simultaneously operate certain rules and regulations, how to break these rules,” A. Prokhorov. What can we say about ordinary users - they are ready to break the rules without any rules. It is no secret that the capabilities of modern corporate information systems are far from being used 100%. Moreover, even a form reflecting a simple operation (for example, shipping goods to a customer) usually contains a large number of controls that are never used in a particular company. Even in the ideal case, when there are clear instructions for users - “check box A, do not check box B”, there will be a friend who will find it expedient to check box B. The conclusion from here is the following:

IT should not get carried away with instructions for users. The best instruction is the rigid interface of corporate information systems. Ideally, there are two choices and two buttons - forward and back.

Role model

"Tightening the screws" (perhaps the reader had such a desire after reading the previous paragraph) also has another side. In a crisis mode, powers are often redistributed between users. Sometimes the role model is completely reshaped. Thus, the most atomized role model should be applied: the less authority is allocated, the better. Although this principle is not new, the author, unfortunately, happened to see, for example, in accounting systems based on "1C" the mega-roles "accountant for fixed assets", and an attempt to hang on this accountant also accounting for fuels and lubricants required quite a lot of efforts of the IT service to develop and test a new role. Moreover, all this took place at a fairly large plant with a fairly strong IT service.

Grassroots solidarity

The "Russian Model of Management" introduces the concept of grassroots solidarity: our mentality assumes not to give badly working colleagues to the bosses and does not encourage snitching. Therefore, for a CIO, especially in a large IT service (according to the apt definition of the well-known ITSM expert Roman Zhuravlev, a large IT service is when the CIO does not know what all his subordinates are doing), it is important to get an assessment of subordinates that does not depend on the opinions of the peers being assessed. Another interesting fact is related to this feature: in the phrase "Went to the chiefs" keyword – "came out". In the case when the boss was recently an ordinary member of the team, it seems to him that the relationship has not changed much, but in fact this is far from the case. The author personally faced a situation when yesterday's colleague, whom he considered a friend, having become a subordinate, in a question in which the author had a deliberately higher level of competence, nevertheless preferred to look for an answer on the Internet, from friends, so as not to show his ignorance. although I have always dealt with similar problems before.

Equalization

Vladimir Vysotsky, our everything of the XX century, sang aptly:

Said: “The trouble for all of us is the same:
Let's dig it out - it is again
Will begin to fulfill three norms,
Will start to give coal to the country - and we have a khan! "

One good friend of the author, one of the leaders of a not the smallest provider, once tried to introduce norms for employees of the NOC (network operations center). The result was discouraging - the number of processed applications fell. The laggards slightly increased productivity, but the front-runners either reduced it or started complaining of bullying. This is a manifestation of another principle of the Russian model of management - egalitarianism. Hence the conclusion : establishment of leveling KPI for IT service employees engaged in homogeneous activities, this is an extremely harmful undertaking in Russian realities.

Task portfolio

In the "Russian model of management" the price of the effectiveness of a crisis regime is a monstrous overspending of resources. What does this IT overspend look like?

Most importantly, there is no detailed plan for a specific situation. Consequently, potentially necessary resources are attracted "with a margin" in order to "suffice". This is an excess amount of materials and equipment (especially if it is ordered, not available in the “nearest store”), and contracting of excess volumes of work from contractors (we do not know how long it will take for this or that specialist, and we also cannot set the task for sure, if you miss the mark, it may well turn out that the required specialist is not available at the moment), and the diversion of internal resources, including resources of parallel services. However, starting from a certain stage of the crisis project, we already have more or less understandable surplus of equipment and materials, idle employees of contractors and / or our own personnel, cut off from regular activities. The thought suggests itself to use all these resources in the interests of the organization. As a rule, the IT service, in one form or another, has a large portfolio of tasks that “didn’t get their hands on”, “didn’t have enough budget” and about which it is clear that “it should be, but so far it seems to be okay”. A crisis project is just the case when this portfolio can be unloaded. All that is needed for this is a good rubrication of the content: to be able to understand what should have been drawn long ago in ARIS, where to use an expert on the 1C platform, where it is good to take radio measurements, and where to throw optics on occasion.

Actually, almost all IT management solutions have functionality that allows you to quickly determine what you can do with the available resources for a long time, but this information must be entered systematically. A well-organized portfolio of tasks is a way to turn waste (from overspending) into investment.

P. S... Special thanks to Katya Vasilyeva for the excellent illustrations.

A new trend in business training: domestic and Western companies are interested in such an exotic genre as the "business fairy tale".

On the benefits of "hints"

The idea of ​​inscribing the process of business education in some abstract (and exciting!) Game plot was first realized in the work with the student reserve. This format was used to see the actions of future specialists in certain situations, to teach the required models of behavior, to motivate young people to work in the organization. On the one hand, a simulation game aimed at adapting to corporate culture clearly shows newcomers the real processes in the company and the rules adopted here. Those who are attracted by the traditions of the enterprise are likely to "take root" in the team, but someone, perhaps, will seriously think about whether he wants to work in this place. On the other hand, heads of departments get the opportunity to see how effective the laws they have formulated, and, if necessary, change them.

Life has shown that role-playing games can be of great benefit in working with already established teams. It turns out that it is better to disassemble certain typical problems not "head-on" (this is very painful), but somewhat detached, allegorically ("a fairy tale is a lie, but there is a hint in it ..."). What are these problems? For example, the interaction of the central office with the regions, when there are many instructions, everything is spelled out, but the desired interaction does not occur. The human factor, you know! The less external similarity between the plot of the game and the real circumstances, the easier it is to involve people in the educational process, the easier it is for them to analyze their own mistakes.

Let me give you an example of a “fabulous” business game, the purpose of which is to help the participants see the situation from the outside and themselves feel the need for joint action.

How the royal children learned to wits

“Once upon a time there was a tsar with a tsarina and princes. God gave many princes, several dozen (according to the number of participants in the event). At first, things were dealt with easily, but the state was getting richer, growing in land, and now the moment came when, completing the day, the tsar could hardly understand what was going on in those lands where morning was just coming.

Fortunately, the royal children have grown up. “The one who will go to the most different corners of our kingdom, will put things in order there and will report to us on time and on time,” thought the Tsar. - Only will they cope, will they squirm already on the road? Are you capable of caring for the kingdom, or only for your own pocket? "

And he decided to give the children a test. I sent them on a journey, to see others, to show themselves - who will become the hope and support of the state. The tsar's children were broken up into squads and dispersed in different directions. And so that everyone was calm, the Tsar gave each squad a mentor (leading events). "

This is the introduction to be read to the participants in the role-playing game. After dividing into "squads", "tests" begin - in fact, these are the target business tasks that are proposed to be solved using traditional training methods - individually or in a group. But the need to solve the problems posed is determined by the plot of the tale. For example:

“The tsar was expecting experienced children exactly for his jubilee. I wanted to celebrate it like I had never done before. And, of course, for the gifts to be unusual! Here ingenuity is needed, and the main thing is that everything is prepared in a friendly and consistent manner.

Since the doctor prescribed peace for the king, the queen took over the preparation of the feast. A boring person, I must admit ... Each squad tortured what they wanted to give - it was very important for her to know who and what would be doing, but they had not forgotten by what date. She told me not to hope for memory, but to write everything down. All right, she would clarify and approve the case herself, otherwise she ordered the vigilantes to discuss the goals, tasks and work for general clarity. "

In a more familiar language, at this stage the rules of goal setting, planning, organization, control are actualized, taking into account real difficulties. The main areas of activity of the "players" are highlighted, and during the discussion of each one the goals are specified and adjusted.

Priorities are immediately set, information and resource exchange is being worked out: who receives from whom and what information, who transfers what information to whom, and taking into account real problems. As a result, it becomes clear to people how to organize work in their divisions and with the central office. And it is the external detachment of the role-playing game plot from the routine that helps to imbue this knowledge.

In the distant kingdom

To show how diverse the tasks that this format is capable of solving, I will tell you a story.

In a fairly large western company, one of the departments grew very quickly. So quickly that the employees did not have time to get to know each other. The HR manager decided to host a team building event. However, the study of the situation showed: re-acquaintance of the project participants is not all, here you need to solve a whole list of tasks:

• to identify the difficulties that are possible in the process of interaction;
• lead participants to an awareness of the value of each team member in achieving an overall result;
• create conditions for the disclosure of the creative potential of the project participants;
• improve the efficiency of communication within the team;
• show the need for cooperation in a healthy competition;
• increase loyalty to the company by identifying and comparing personal and corporate values;
• to acquaint participants with technologies that could later be applied in solving real work problems;
  create conditions for experiencing joint success.

In what format should a team-building event be held if a corporate trip is planned, where people are inclined to relax and have a pleasant pastime? Of course, a fairy tale is needed here!

When choosing the types of activity, the emphasis was placed not so much on the physical and emotional components, but on the intellectual and spiritual ones. As a result, a significant episode of the game was created, dedicated to the personal and company values:

“In the three-ninth kingdom, in the thirty-tenth state, there were four cities, and each one was proud of his craft. The fame of the masters of these cities thundered far beyond the kingdom. Only one thing saddened the sovereign of those fabulous lands: from time immemorial, the roads between the cities were bad, and, therefore, life in each of them proceeded separately, even people spoke different languages.

The king thought and thought, and he decided to start new traditions in his kingdom. He commanded the roads to continue to be built even, and the neighbors to live in friendship and unity, which will strengthen and enrich the state ... "

Each of the four participating teams prepared a presentation of their city ... in the form of a pantomime (“languages ​​are different for all cities”). The “neighbors”, having watched the pantomime, had to “voice” it (“translate the message into their own language”). In the course of the game, the line-ups of the teams changed several times. The result was an agreed list of values, consonant with all "citizens of the state" and emotionally uniting the participants.

During the exercises, interaction skills were worked out, mutual understanding was achieved, conditions were created for the manifestation of the intellectual and emotional potential of the participants. However, the success still had to be consolidated. So the game continued ...

In the distant kingdom 2

“The king rejoiced at the unification of the cities and made a feast for the whole world. Many speeches were given at that feast. One guest said: “Oh, great sir! You laid the foundation for new glorious traditions. The kingdom became stronger and richer. But I heard that somewhere in the world there is a philosopher's stone, which gives invincibility in wars and success in commercial affairs. Now, if you took out this stone, your kingdom would be the most powerful on earth! "

And the king decided to send four of his faithful squads in search of the philosopher's stone ... "

During the second stage of the game, the teams had to go through various tests and, as a result, get fragments of the "map that opens the way to the philosopher's stone." Moreover, the teams had to guess themselves to combine their efforts and put all the fragments - sheets with corporate values ​​- together.

Participants were in for both amusing sports competitions aimed at raising the mood and strengthening the team spirit, as well as intellectual tasks, for the solution of which the groups were offered serious business technologies (in the future, the participants could successfully apply them in their work).

It is gratifying to note: in this project, the players managed to fold the "card" and find the "philosopher's stone" (a real crystal, now it is the mascot of the department). And, of course, the company's goals were achieved.

On practice

It happens that pantomime becomes the key moment in the role-playing game. Should the coach (or HR manager, if he runs the event himself) first demonstrate the correct behavior model? Or, perhaps, his task is to lead the participants to this model, since the independently traversed path provides a stronger effect on the final result?

When solving this dilemma for yourself, it is worth keeping in mind: a demonstration is an excellent coaching tool in cases where it is necessary to compensate for the lack of acting skills, indecision and uncertainty of the audience.

The demonstration, first, gives people an idea of ​​the challenge ahead; secondly, it sets them up in a cheerful, creative way; thirdly, it raises the authority of the coaching team in the eyes of the participants. They see that coaches can sing, dance and perform acrobatic tricks (not just teach and score), and this becomes a great foundation for creating a trusting, creative and relaxed atmosphere when working in groups.

The tale of the capricious bride

And here's another example, when problems are overcome in a "fabulous" way.

The company, which celebrated its 10th anniversary, was proud of its team of professionals. Most of the sales managers have worked since the day of foundation. These are specialists with excellent knowledge of the subject area, market and product with which they work. But lately, the management has a reason for concern: it was clear that experienced employees, once again following the well-trodden path of ordering, lose their "thrill"; their view of their own actions is "blurred", and the concept of "the cost of a mistake" and a sense of responsibility are reduced ... How to shake people ?!

We tried to simulate the entire business process in unrealistic conditions - they wrote a fabulous canvas. A special role was assigned to the leader, who was given the right and the opportunity to correct the actions of the participants in the game, as well as to compare what was happening with real work situations. Purpose: the players had to look at the entire business process, at each interaction with allied partners in a new way; to see oneself from the outside, and also to feel oneself “in the shoes” of an employee of a related unit.

“In a certain kingdom, in a certain state, there lived a merchant. And he had a beautiful daughter. Many suitors wooed the beautiful merchant's daughter, but she offered everyone to go through such trials that no one could cope with them, and left with nothing. Decided to try his luck and Danila the master, wooed the beauty.

The good fellow immediately liked the capricious woman, but she decided to give him a test anyway (out of principle!). This is what she said: “I dreamed about an extraordinary flower. He grew up in an extraordinary garden, which was in an extraordinary country. It suits my new sundress very much, and now I dream of a brooch, exactly the same as this very flower. Make it - to be your wife for me "...".

Of course, the leader was the “capricious bride”. "Danila the Master" is a collective image, it is a group of players. And since the "bride" sympathizes with the groom, at some moments she can give hints. In the process, the players were allowed to clarify details and receive additional information.

The brooch was made of cardboard, wire, velvet, beads, etc. Moreover, the game was set so that the Danila group (an analogue of the design department) had to turn to other groups for help - "treasurers" (accounting), "merchants" (purchasing department ), etc. It is important that in the game the participants performed the functions of a completely different unit from which they work in reality. For example, a sales manager acted as an accountant. This made it possible for people to experience the value of every site in the company.

Did Danila the master marry a capricious merchant daughter? He got married very much! Having recreated the business process, the participants built just such a flower that the bride "dreamed of", and on time. The game was a great success.

Business fairy tales are just one of the forms organization of training adults. Like any of the well-known methods - training, simulation games, coaching sessions - this format has its own characteristics, "pluses" and "minuses" and, of course, does not replace other forms.

For example, within the framework of a business fairy tale, it is very difficult to practice any skills. This is hampered by the heightened emotional background that arises in the development of the plot - it is difficult to achieve silence ... But when it is necessary to orient people in realizing their own potential, growth zones, then the adventures of Ivan princes, princesses-non-laughing princesses and other inhabitants of the "distant kingdoms" come to the rescue, like Chip and Dale. The fact is that the participants do not want to experience negative emotions about real production problems during their studies. The tale, on the other hand, raises the consideration of typical business situations to a higher level of abstraction than cases, and, being a fresh, unbroken form, allows you to return to the repetition of previously studied business technologies without causing irritation.

Galina Ryakovskaya