Coffee & Coin-Box Experiment - Update

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Ok guys, the results are out - not of the exams but of our “Coin-Box” experiment - and the results are quite surprising.

For the benefit of those who haven’t read my previous post on the experiment of “Coin-Box”, here is a brief recap. (Those who have read the previous post can skip this paragraph). A lot of students at ISB like to have a cup of coffee in the midst of a class break. ISB makes it easy for them by stationing coffee vending machines outside the class rooms. However, the unavailability of five rupee coins (for use in the vending machine) with the students often deprives them of the much desired coffee. To address this problem we tried out a simple “Coin-Box” experiment. As a part of this experiment we keep a box having around 50 -100 coins of five rupees each in the classroom and the students can take any number of coins out of the box after putting an equivalent amount of money back in the box. The catch is that there is no one guarding the box or monitoring the process. So, what do you think has been the fate of the money in the box? Read on for the results.

“Will the guys ‘loot’ the entire money in the box or will the money remain constant?” This was the subject of much debate and discussion in our class. Let me put the debate to rest – the money has neither been looted nor has it remained constant, the money in the box has actually grown! Eight hundred and fifty rupees have been drawn from the Coin-Box in four days over eight lectures and towards the end of this period the box has eight hundred and sixty rupees in it i.e. Rs. 10 extra! Therefore, the good news is that the “Coin-Box” will continue and the guys in our class will never, not have coffee for not having a five rupee coin!

It is worthwhile considering what is it that actually prevented the class from ‘looting’ the Coin-box? Is it the trust posed in them and the moral obligation of living up to the trust? Or is it pure selfishness of having the Coin-box alive kicking? Or is it just that the amount was too miniscule to messed around with?

The conclusions are for you to draw and I am not making any authoritative statements on what actually worked. However, there is one lesson that I feel we can learn form this experiment - that in an organisation less (stringent) rules and more trust posed in the members can sometimes be a more effective way of running the system than setting up an elaborate set of rules or regulations that betray a sense of mistrust in the members of the group.