There was once an old man who made beautiful pottery. He spoke to the clay and the wheel each day and told them what he wanted of them. They loved him so much that they heeded his request and became what he wanted them to become. They were completely in sync with each other so much so that, the pottery always enjoyed what he did and spent all day making and selling earthen ware. So flew by several years and the potter’s son also took to the same profession. Then one day the old man passed away.
A few years later there was a new king who said “If every potter makes his own earthenware completely, there is lot of time and effort wasted. Henceforth in my kingdom, all potters will work together under a single master, each taking up a specific task like preparing the clay, spinning the wheel, molding the wares, baking the wares, etc.” After this law, the kingdom was able to produce lots and lots of pots so much so that, they had excess of pots and could even sell it to other kingdoms and make much more money.
Every one rejoiced the decision of the king and made more and more in this system of pottery until one day the master realized that potters did not talk to the clay or wheel anymore. There were so many people working with one piece of clay that they couldn’t relate to it any more. They were getting bored since they were not in sync like before and therefore over time, they started limiting the time they spend making what they were making. Does this story strike a chord with you?
All of us realize that the involvement that individuals had as artisans before the industrial revolution is very different from what we have in today’s assembly line. People don’t feel aligned, they don’t want to work long, they crave for work-life balance, there is disengagement, there is fall in productivity – we all hear these all the time. There is a huge gap, alienation between people and their work.
Unanimously, we agree that the solution is “ENGAGEMENT”. All organizations are trying to put engagement in place, but the issue doesn’t seem to be resolved. Do we realize why? The solution is right in front of us. We are trying to create a family by singing and dancing, talking and walking, awarding and rewarding, but we don’t see what was that we have lost. We have lost people whose passion is their profession, who communicate with tools and machines, who tell their machines what they want, and who can get it out of their machines through sheer love for them. We are all trying to scratch the surface earth to mine gold instead of getting to the depth.
