I know it kind of seems weird to be learning anything at all in a mechanical lab, but I am not kidding when I say this. I really had a moment of enlightenment during my last IC engine lab.
Since this was our first lab class, it was supposed to be some introductory stuff. For people who don’t know, this IC engine lab is about engines (No brainers there!) and their working. So basically we were taught about the different kinds of engines and how to work with them.
For me personally, it was quite fun as I don’t know shit about the actual working of the engines. One of the best parts was getting to start the engines by cranking it! (It sounds worse than it is!)
And let me be honest when I say that I was freaking scared about starting the engine after listening to the tales of broken noses because people didn’t crank the engines properly. At first, it just didn’t seem quite obvious how it could happen but after seeing the engine in action, it was quite plain how these engines could cause some serious pain. (Check out this Youtube video and you will see why the instructor should never trust us with starting the engine.)
But anyways moving on to the life lesson! So our instructor was explaining us an engine model and everybody was crowded around that place. You can imagine 20 odd guys in the sweaty workshop uniform crowding around a small engine! It was quite obvious that a lot of us never really got to see any of the things what our instructor was explaining to us.
And this has happened before so we were all just listening to him ramble and talking among ourselves.
And then stepped in a Samaritan, another instructor who probably noticed us talking a lot and decided to take things in his own hand. He came in and started telling everybody to step back and form a larger circle near the engine. He kept sending the guys back and made sure that now everybody could hear and see what his fellow instructor was talking about.
And at that moment I was just taken aback by the simplicity of his actions. I mean yes he managed to reduce the chattering but more importantly, he created a situation which allowed everybody to win. I understand that what he did was something really simple but it definitely had a profound effect on me. It got me thinking about how each one of us has this opportunity to create an environment that promotes a win-win condition for all but do we really take that up? Do we really want everyone to win along with us?
And this was proven to me in the next five minutes when our instructor moved on to another model. Initially, some of the guys formed a big circle to watch him present. But at the same time when some of the other guys saw the empty space in front of the guys who had formed the outer circle, they moved in to fill it. This caused a domino effect and immediately everyone was jostling for space. We were back to square one in our small cramped and sweaty groups just trying to have a look at what the instructor was talking about.
I know I am probably thinking too much about this, but it certainly showed me some aspect of human nature. And well this experience taught me, how we should try to create a win-win situation for all the stakeholders in any scenario. This will allow us to achieve more than what we could have done if we just bickered amongst each other.
Also, I found this amazing online game which draws on the concepts of game theory and explains the above situation completely. It is called The Evolution of Trust, so if you are interested you can check out this link.
Withering Wildflowers 