Three Monks

Three Monks is a Chinese animated feature film produced by the Shanghai Animation Film Studio. After the cultural revolution and the fall of the political Gang of Four in 1976, the film was one of the first animations created as part of the rebirth period. It is also referred to as The Three Buddhist Priests.

The film is based on the ancient Chinese proverb "One monk will shoulder two buckets of water, two monks will share the load, but add a third and no one will want to fetch water."

A young monk lives a simple life in a temple on top of a hill. He has one daily task of hauling two buckets of water up the hill. He tries to share the job with another monk, but the carry pole is only long enough for one bucket. The arrival of a third monk prompts everyone to expect that someone else will take on the chore. Consequently, no one fetches water though everybody is thirsty. At night, a rat comes to scrounge and then knocks the candleholder, leading to a devastating fire in the temple. The three monks finally unite together and make a concerted effort to put out the fire. Since then they understand the old saying "unity is strength" and begin to live a harmonious life. The temple never lacks water again.

Analysis

So Lets take work done by one monk to fill two bucket and carry it to top as 1 unit or 1 joule.

1) One monk at the temple-

With one Pole and two buckets , first monk fetch water from pond.

Total Buckets carried = 2 , Total work done  = 1 unit 

2) Two monk at the temple-

Both monk firstly behave friendly but when they needed water , no one was ready to fetch it. So they come up with sharing of load , where 2 monk will carry only one bucket which will be in the exactly middle of the pole. So,
Total Buckets carried = 2 , Total work done  = .50 x 2 = 1 unit 

 

3) Three monk at the temple-

when third monk join them in temple , all three of them starts expecting from other 2 to bring water and so no one  fetches water. So in all work done is null.

Total Buckets carried = 0 , Total work done  = .0 unit 

 

4) Three monk at the temple(Solution)-

In crisis situation , All three make effort and with sharing of load , all 3 were able to fix the problem and also get united. So they come up with a solution for future and divide the work proportionately. So,

Total Buckets carried = 2 , Total work done  = .33 x 3 = 1 units

Result:- 

S. No.	Scenario	No of Monks	Total Buckets Carried	Total Work Done	Effort	Productivity
1	1 monk carrying 2 buckets	1	2	1	100	1%
2	2 monk carrying 1 buckets	2	2	1	50	1%
3	3 monk carrying no bucket	3	0	0	0	not defined
4	3 monk carrying 2 bucket	3	2	1	10	10%

Case 1 and 2 have equal productivity as a whole but in case 2 individual effort is less so it is better. In Case 4 there is much better productivity because of the use of pulleys and division of work than any other case. Case 3 is a worst scenario for an organization where employee expects from others to apply effort and get work done.

 

Understanding and Learning :-

• Unity - When there is oneness in a team, there is more strength in opinion, more strength in action, and more strength in character. This is a very simple and obvious fact that, if one person tries his hands on some job, he will manage much less than what a group effort will achieve.
• Division of work - Division of labour represents a qualitative increase in productivity. In a successful organization, work and labour is divided as per economic, technological and physical strength of individual. Such structured division lead to better performance.
• Teamwork - Team work is essential in corporates for better output and a better bonding among employees. In a team , workload is shared and individuals feel motivated to perform better than his team members.