Learnings from Navrang Puzzle

Learnings from Navrang Puzzle

It consists of 27 small cubes of 9 different colors. Contrary to a Rubik’s cube which has 6 colours, Navrang has 9 colours. The cube is made of 27 coloured detachable cubes in sets of 3.


The first challenge was for 3 of us to volunteer and solve the cube - put it back into place with the given set of constraints - 

1. Each face of the cube must have all the 9 colors. Which also means obviously that none of the colors can be repeated on any face - since there are only 9 slots in each.

2. We only had 5 minutes in which to solve the cube.

3. The 27 smaller cubes were clustered randomly on the table.

Then came the hidden concept of  ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE, We were not organized.

Dr. Mandi Sir, then explained the algorithm to achieve the given task. Once understood, the algorithm was so simple that we wondered how it didn't strike any of us.

1)  The basic lesson learnt was the importance of organization. Half of our problems could be easily solved by proper organization of thoughts, manpower and material.

 2) The second take-away was that things lie in simplicity. The more one over-complicates things, the tougher the task becomes.

Management Lessons:

• Each Problem can be solved by systematic thinking
• Each Block represents an entity (Labor, Machine etc.) in an organization and is to be assembled in a structured and hierarchical way like the above process, so efficiency is maximum
• Two blocks of the same color may represent people who don't gel well with each other. And hence while forming a team, a structured approach is necessary

An organizational structure consists of activities such as task allocation, coordination and supervision, which are directed towards the achievement of organizational aims. It can also be considered as the viewing glass or perspective through which individuals see their organization and its environment.

An organization can be structured in many different ways, depending on their objectives. The structure of an organization will determine the modes in which it operates and performs.

Organizational structure allows the expressed allocation of responsibilities for different functions and processes to different entities such as the branch, department, workgroup and individual

Organizational structure affects organizational action in two big ways. First, it provides the foundation on which standard operating procedures and routines rest. Second, it determines which individuals get to participate in which decision-making processes, and thus to what extent their views shape the organization’s actions.