For some time now, I’ve been thinking about how we function as a society, and to be honest, I don’t know how we achieve anything. Let’s acquaint ourselves with Maslow’s hierarchy of needs pyramid to understand this better.
According to Maslow, at the lowest level are physiological needs such as food, health, sleep, sex, etc. At the second level is security, such as clothing, shelter, and being safe from danger. The third level involves belonging to a group, community, or family, which includes marital and romantic relationships, love, etc. The fourth level is self-respect and respect from others, and the fifth and final level is self-actualization (realizing individual potential). Maslow himself said that most people never reach this fifth level, and even though we hear daily that someone has reached it or that we have all reached it, I think that ¾ never get there, but that’s not the point of this essay.
Most people are probably wondering what this essay is about. I’ll try to explain it a bit, and I believe that everyone will find themselves in this text. In everyday life, we all find ourselves in a situation where we want to finish something, for example, in a public institution, as it often happens in Montenegro. We go to a public institution and start a process of resolving a dispute or obtaining a document. First, we write a request and submit it. In most cases, we don’t have anyone to submit it to except an archive, and then we pray to a god that someone will see it and process it. In most cases, someone will process it, and then we will wait for the director or someone higher up to sign it. Right now, I am waiting for a board of directors to sign a contract for four months, yes, four months.
I am not writing this essay to attack anyone but to show that the higher someone is on the hierarchical ladder, the slower they work. The fact that I may need the urgency of those people doesn’t interest anyone. If I complain somewhere, four months will become four years. As long as we function like this, there is no progress, and heaven forbid that we want to finish something during elections, then we are really in trouble. We won’t achieve anything, and we get sad answers while waiting. Does that mean we are asking for something that is not legally ours? NO, but it is treated as if we are asking for services so that it doesn’t go public that we’ve done it. We are not asking for anything that is not due to us, and I don’t want to thank someone for doing their job. Still, I have noticed that in every administration or office, those at lower levels are terrified of those at higher levels. Imagine what a toxic environment that is.
I often mention that there is no worse job than the one that makes you say, “Oh, poor me, I have to go to work.” I understand the feeling of having obligations towards myself, my loved ones, and my superiors, but we shouldn’t get stuck in a job we hate.
In conclusion, I would mention Elon Musk, who said in an interview, “In the future, highly adaptable people will be sought after.”
What does this mean? It means that only those with various skills and the ability to adapt and adopt new jobs quickly and efficiently will survive in the future. Do you belong to that group? Or do you think you belong to the group where you are the director and don’t have to answer to anyone and especially not sign a document during elections? Personally, I don’t want to be part of that, so let me be at a lower level or never reach self-actualization.
God bless you brother.??????