On Character

Here is another story.

Story goes like this. Chakochan and his girlfriend Lillykutty are on a romantic cruise in the Lakshwadep Islands. They are software engineers working in Bangalore so they have lots of money to spend. And they know that spending strengthens the economy so they are just doing their patriotic duty. Suddenly a big storm comes up and sinks the ship. Next morning Lillykutty finds herself washed ashore on a lonely beach. She gets up, looks around, and realizes she is marooned on an isolated island. Some time later she comes across two other survivors from the wreak, an old man and a sailor. The sailor is an experienced seaman but he is not a member of the ships crew. Together they find a battered life raft on the other side of the island. The sailor takes a look at it and concludes that it is damaged but he can fix it. Later on in the day Lillykutty, notices some movement on a nearby island. She is very happy when she realizes that there are some survivors on the other island and one of them appears to be our own Chakochan. She can’t wait to be with him again. So she goes to the sailor and requests him to fix the raft. The sailor tells her that he will repair the raft if she will sleep with him tonight. She is disgusted and walks away. But still desperate to get to Chakochan, she goes to the old man and asks him for advice. The old man replies “Follow your heart”. She goes away. Next day we see that the raft is repaired. They all get in the raft and go to the other island. Chackochan and Lillykutty hug each other. She then tells him what happened. He is angry and calls off their relationship. She is heartbroken. Seeing this, a mutual friend of theirs comes up and proposes to her. They live happily ever after.

Now get your friends to rate the 5 characters in the story on a scale of 1 to 5 on the basis of their character. Who is good? Who is bad?

The Logic of Loss

Try this exercise with your team.

It starts with a story about a lady, a shopkeeper and a panwala. The lady walks into a shoe shop. Looks around. Tries on a few models. Finally decides to buy one that costs Rs.12. She goes to the check-out counter and hands a 20 rupee note to the shopkeeper. The shopkeeper does not have change. So he goes to the panwala across the street who happens to be his friend and asks him if he has change for the 20 rupees. Luckily the panwala has change. So the shopkeeper gives the 20 note to the panwala and gets 20 one rupee coins. He returns to the shop. Hand over the pair of shoes and the balance of Rs.8 to the lady. Lady leaves. Some more business happens. Half an hour later, the panwala comes to the shop and tells him that the 20 rupee note was a fake. He wants his money back. Since they are friends, the shopkeeper trusts the panwala to be telling the truth and gives him a genuine 20 rupee note in exchange for the fake.

Now, the question is: How much money did the shopkeeper loose? Simple arithmetic. You have 1 minute to think it over after which each person would have to give his answer to the group. See what happens.

PS: As you may have noticed, the story in the above example happened a long time ago.