Simple Problem - Simpler solution.

Many of us, in ISB, want to have a cup of coffee in the midst of a class break. Many a times, however, we are unable to have the coffee for the want of a five rupee coin.

We, in our class one day, were discussing possible ways of addressing the problem and the guys came up with several ‘innovative’ solutions. One of the guys suggested starting a new business venture in the ‘Supply Chain Management’ of five rupee coins, and another suggested a corporate alliance with the ‘D’ company to ‘clean-up’ the Coffee Vending machines of all their ‘belongings.’ The best and the most innovative solution, however, was quite obviously the one that I suggested ;-) and the one that finally got implemented. This solution is that of a simple ‘Coin-Box.’

The ‘Coin-Box’ solution has now been under implementation, in our class, for the past three weeks. The solution is, as the name itself suggests, a simple box filled with around fifty to hundred coins of five rupees each. The box is kept in the class daily and the students are free to draw any number of coins out of the box after putting an equivalent amount of money back into the box. The beauty of the solution is that there is no one who monitors the process or guards the box.

The 'Coin- Box' lying just like that - with no one guarding it.

How long then can the ‘Coin-Box’ continue without suffering losses or without being ‘looted’ if there is no one to watch the ‘cash-flow’ in and out of the box? Well, as pointed out earlier, the ‘Coin-Box’ has successfully been under implementation for the past three weeks (we actually have Rs. 25 extra in the box at the end of three weeks!) and I don’t see any reason for this to change. The ‘Coin-Box’ will continue to serve the students of our section (and possibly others) as long as they continue to serve the box by living up to the trust and confidence posed in them. And the chances, if any, of someone betraying the trust of the whole group look really slim to me.

Therefore, the ‘Coin-Box’ shall continue to quench the thirst of 5 (Ru)P’s in the class break to facilitate the students’ understanding of the other (4)P’s and (3)C’s in the class.

There is also, perhaps, much greater significance of this solution/experiment than the mere provisioning of five rupee coins for the purchase of coffee. There is, in my view, a very important lesson that can be drawn from the success of this experiment - that sometimes, less reliance on an elaborate set of rules and regulations that betray a sense of mistrust in the members of the group and more reliance on the general ‘goodness’ and honesty of the members can be a better of way of running a system effectively.

If the previous sentence didn’t make much sense, dismiss it as some mumbo-jumbo and continue to have your coffee. Any time you find yourself constrained for five rupee coins - just find the LT where the class of our section is held. And to answer which is our section, the class of which you have to look for, you just have to answer another simple question – “Which is the section that really rocks?” Answer this question and thou shall have thine answer.

P.S. Please do not take the ‘section’ comments seriously. They were added just to add a dash of humor. Happy Coffeeing!

The 'Coin-Box' in action