“MAY THE NEIGHBOUR’S COW BE ALIVE AND WELL!”

I have master’s degree in mechanical engineering.

The Faculty of Mechanical Engineering of Belgrade influenced my reasoning and shaped me to think how to make something to function well.

I had the first contact with OOH during the 1990’s, when I was a student and when I pasted up posters on a part-time basis. After I had graduated in 2000, I got a job as the technical department director and that’s still my position. I have been part of Alma Quattro’s team for 15 years, since 2004.

During my entire career I have worked in out-of-home advertising.

Although my position in the company has not changed, the job description and my assignments have changed due to the development of out-of-home advertising in the country.

OOH development was inhomogeneous in relation to the location.

In Belgrade we had a contract, but in other cities the story was completely different. At that time my duties also included visiting local self-governments, obtaining necessary licences and approvals, and meeting people.

In Niš, in 1998, I visited all the locations, took photos, drew sketches, controlled and managed the billboard installation, and established contacts with the contractors.

In Ćuprija, people from the directorate called us at their own initiative, because they wanted billboards to be installed in their town and considered billboards as a step towards the modernisation of the town. I have many nice memories and acquaintances from that period.

Today I am in charge of organisation and management of the entire technical department, which is divided into 3 sectors: electrical installations, mechanical maintenance, and warehouse. The focus is on media labelling and maintenance (for all media except innovate).

Over the years, the team I am in charge of has expanded from 4 to 25 members. My job description has become far more complex, following the expansion and development of the company.

Over the years Alma Quattro’s capacities for investment and innovations have grown.

Let me illustrate the change: when we had problems with lighting on one part of the network in 2005, the investment required for retrofit was a significant undertaking and investment. In 2017 we invested the same amount in one toilette that we installed in the city centre, and we installed 4 toilettes.

I am aware that I was lucky to get a job in Alma Quattro, but I am also aware that I am still here owing to honest, disciplined, and hard work.

Alma stands out from other companies, since the work atmosphere is more friendly and relaxed, and that’s the result of working together for a long period of time, being well organised, and assisting one another.

Alma Quattro’s masquerade in 2010

Working conditions in terms of flexibility and the time we come and leave (as long as it does not affect the work tasks) are an additional advantage. And, finally, the fact that I really love my work is also an important piece of the “jigsaw” that makes me fulfilled.

There are things, the things I have personally learnt and experienced, which I am trying to pass on to my team, but also to my kids, as some important lessons in life that will make them good people.

Precision is of key importance in the work of a professional. Colleagues call me “German”, because they know that I like everything to be shipshape and spick-and- span. That’s the result of the nature of my job. In practice it means that something either works or doesn’t work. If something doesn’t work, there must be a fault and a reason for that. There is no much space for philosophy. If things are not shipshape, then we have a problem.

An executive must keep the distance in his work with employees. I like all the people on the team I am in charge of, but when a problem occurs, it must be put aside. I am the one who is responsible for their wellbeing as well as for the wellbeing of the company. It is important to separate personal and professional things. Even though I would like to help them and do a favour, sometimes I need to say “no”.

Feedback should be given cool-headed. The most unpleasant part of my work is dealing with the situation when a problem occurs. Then I have to prepare myself mentally for a conversation with people. When I was younger and hot-headed, it was more difficult. Now I am wiser and I always wait until the next day to have that conversation.

Anticipating and planning mean that you have to work more now in order to have easier work later. Our mentality implies resourcefulness and a lack of planning, since we are not often given an opportunity to be taught by an example of consistency that has led to success. I try to avoid improvising at the last moment and I try to teach colleagues, through practical examples, that planning, precision, and thinking ahead about consequences are of the utmost importance.

Don’t look at others, look at yourself and your work. I remember one campaign that can be an excellent illustration: “May the neighbour’s cow be alive and well” (alluding to the opposite of crab mentality: “May all the crabs get out of the bucket”). It is not important what your colleague has done, but what you have done. It is important to see ourselves and our deeds in the first place, not to watch somebody else’s yard. May the neighbour’s cow be alive and well, and may our cow be even better, more beautiful, and healthier.

In my private life I tend to show the world and different ways of thinking to my kids, so that they could become the people who tend to be better and more educated, and to think as cosmopolites.