THEORY X THEORY Y examples

In continuation to the blog that i wrote on theory X and theory Y with respect to the employee-manager relationship there is one more example that came to my mind:
My second job was also with an architect who had done his masters from the United States of America and i joined him under the impression that i will get to learn something different from this man as he would have a different perspective to the whole designing idea which to a certain extent was true as i learned while working for him. His methodology of keeping a track of employee's work status and progress was also unique to me. There was a sheet we had to fill twice every day, once before lunch and once before closing for the day with the details of the work that we had done. My work however involved a lot of travelling to the construction sites and i would have to travel approximately 100 kms a day. This was a little difficult parameter to track as there were other variables that affected this like traffic, availability of transport, etc. He however would use the minimum time taken to travel to reach the destination and that too in his car and apply it on me. I tried to convince him but he wouldn't agree which made me lose interest in the job. Also since his wife too worked with him as she was an architect too, i would receive work load from her too giving almost the same deadlines and neither would give me a break if i failed to finish one's work because i was busy doing the other's work.
This i believe is an example of scenario 2 where the manager belongs to category X and employee belongs to category Y

Theory X and Theory Y

Prof. T. Prasad very clearly explained the theory X and theory Y concept based on the relationship between managers and employees where four scenarios were possible.
Here X implies lazy/ inefficient and Y implies hardworking/efficient
scenario 1: the employees are X and the manager is X too.
in this situation the employees are lazy and the manager also thinks that they are lazy and has no faith in them changing into efficient employees. his poor judgement will make him put no efforts in trying to change them into hardworking employees. here the employees remain unhappy with their manager and the manager remains unhappy with his/her employees making the work environment difficult. there is no scope for growth for anyone and in such a situation the manager becomes responsible for bringing down the organisation.
scenario 2: the employees are Y and manager is X.
this is the most dangerous scenario. in this scenario it is possible that even hardworking and efficient employees turn into lazy and in efficient employees because their work goes unappreciated and their efforts are not rewarded. If a manager does not understand the strengths of his employees and fails to manage them, making them lose interest which will downgrade their performance and output. each employee has his specialisation and it is important that the manager tap these specific skills of his employees and not blindly assign tasks as he pleases without taking into account who is more suited to which job/task. There's every chance that a poor manager will convert this scenario into scenario 1
scenario 3:  the employees are X and manager is Y
This is where the skills of an effective manager come into play. His task is to lift the standards of his employees to ensure the desired result is achieved and if a manager is successful in doing so he is an effective and a successful manager. It is his job to convert the third scenario into the fourth scenario. He leads by example and he does not lose hope and faith in his employees and becomes responsible for the organisation's growth.
scenario 4:  the employees are Y and manager is Y too.
this scenario is the most easiest as not much effort is required by the manager to obtain the desired results.


i have personally had experiences of scenario 3.
in the 1st organisation that i worked i joined as a civil engineer where my responsibilities were to take care of the execution of designs by the architects. Many a times the junior architects would fail to deliver the drawings on time and i had to bear the brunt for their short comings. I couldn't do much as i wasn't skilled in preparing drawings myself. when i brought this to the notice of my boss he said i cannot rely on others all the time and i have to step in to ensure the work is done and it is success of the work that matters. however he showed a lot of confidence in me and would always say that i am a capable man and i can learn to prepare drawings myself. He would always say "you can do it" and very soon i was. i think this very well fits into possibility 3 and it is his belief and support that made me take up challenges and always believe i can do it.