When I was younger I always hated managers. As according to my experience they didn’t do much and earned high salaries, higher than people in technical jobs, more working type jobs. So I was kind of jealous and didn’t understand exactly what they were doing. I mean, I was and am more of a worker, doing the work, the thing that’s really important, the thing that ‘produces’. And over time I also started to hate salespeople. As they also just seemed to talk and have high salaries, often even commission based, something that wouldn’t really make me move, something like commission.
And then politics, I also didn’t really understand. As politicians all seem to be somehow dishonest people, people defending points of view they might not even support, people voting for things they might not agree with. How can you do that, how can you live with yourself doing things you don’t agree with, defending things you don’t agree with.
But slowly I started to understand that politics have a function in society. And that politicians have a role in that, that politicians are needed to play the political game, to make decisions that are virtually impossible to take for a person like me. So slowly I started to admire politicians, started to appreciate that there are people who can be, who want to be a politician. As of course there may be politicians who just want the fame, the name, the importance or whatever. But I guess most of them are just doing their job, are just trying to make these impossible decisions related to what people want, impossible decisions around benefiting groups at the cost of other groups. As somehow that is the right thing to do, decide something for the ‘common good’, even though you know this is going to hurt people, this is going to affect people in a negative way.
The same applies to doctors, medical staff deciding about life and death, especially after a disaster where there is not enough capacity or medicines or whatever is needed to save the lives of all people that need treatment. They would make these decisions who lives or dies, and still live with that. Which I guess is not as easy as it seems, no matter how they would normally point to ‘training’ and ‘procedures’ and such. But in the end I’m quite sure all of them would somehow being affected, having made decisions about treatments or who lives or who dies. In the end it’s still about people.
So yes, I started to appreciate politicians and doctors as they are doing things I don’t like to do, and as a person might not even be able to do anyway as I would be too much affected with the things they do, the decisions they make, have to make.
The thing with the managers I never fully understood. But somehow I realize that managers, especially good managers, get things done where I somehow don’t get things done. So yes, they do have value, even more than me, much more than me as stated in Think and Grow Rich about people who can get things done, can get other people to perform.
And the thing with marketing and sales people I am also starting to understand. As ‘selling’ or ‘buying’ is not only about having the product or service available. It’s also communicating the value of the product or service between buyers and sellers. And yes, that’s what I learned, especially after having ran my own business, is needed next to the product or service. Communicating about it, preferably before the deal is made.
So yes, slowly I am starting to see that there are good reasons why society, why governments, why companies are organized as they are. That indeed all those roles that exist need to be fulfilled to get things done, to serve people.
But somehow there is one thing I don’t fully understand. And that is why some people, many people, all people are being paid differently. Or not that they are being paid differently, but why, e.g. a not so hard working manager is being paid more than a very hard working laborer. As they both do their best, they both do best what they’re good at. So why would the one just doing what he is good at be paid more than the one working very hard, doing extra effort, who is not that good to deserve the higher pay.
And I don’t have the answers. And this is just what it is right now. But somehow I have the feeling it can be organized better. As the current wealth doesn’t seem to be distributed properly with our current payment system.
So maybe yes, maybe you can think with me and put some comments on how we could organize this better, that e.g. hard work would be paid a bit more, versus that only work clever or efficient would be paid more.