“If what you are doing does not bring results – change your approach.”
This applies to work, relationships, habits – even to entire civilizations.
It’s like trying to open a door with the wrong key – you can push all day, but the door will not open.
World 2025: A Time of Chaos and Questions
The year is 2025.
We are nearing the end of a scorching summer, following events none of us would ever want to see repeated.
The time we live in is turbulent. Chaotic. Challenging.
And no one has prepared us for such a present.
So I ask myself – and invite you to ask yourselves:
- How do you protect your peace and health?
- Do you have a recipe for every situation we face?
- Are you searching for answers?
I myself wonder – is this the end of a civilization? What can I do? How do I protect myself?
And then, as it usually happens – when you are ready to listen – the answer appears.
Insights: Ecocivilization as Inspiration
When I encountered the Ecocivilization movement, one idea struck me in particular:
If we know that earlier civilizations reached their peak and then collapsed by their own hand,
what would happen if, for the first time in history, we used our knowledge, experience, technology, and awareness to prevent that?
Isn’t it irresponsible to allow ourselves to collapse, when we already have all the tools to create a more sustainable world?
Let’s return to the beginning of the story: If what you are doing does not bring results – change your approach, do something different.
Today’s Leaders – Old Keys for New Doors
Another insight that made me question existing concepts is that today’s leaders seem to be trying to solve new challenges with outdated methods.
As if they keep insisting on opening a door with the wrong key.
But what we really need are mentally healthy, inspiring leaders – those who can see beyond existing frameworks and act out of love and compassion.
The solution is simple – imagine a different reality, and start acting in line with what you’ve imagined.
Change of approach begins with the individual. Sometimes change comes from the top, sometimes from the bottom – and most often, only when we try to change direction. We cannot know until we try.
Let us remember the words of Margaret Mead: “Never underestimate the power of a small group of committed people to change the world. In fact, it is the only thing that ever has.”
Creative Activism: A New Form of Leadership
As in nature – for every situation, there is a logical response. One of them is an approach where leaders are not necessarily those “at the top.”
That is activism – the practice that allows people to connect with others, nurture a sense of community and compassion, and solve problems in purposeful and often creative ways.
Novi Sad already has its own examples of individuals whose actions bring change and inspire:
We are also witnessing the awakening of consciousness and the student movement in Serbia, the organizing of citizens into assemblies, and the connecting of individuals without clearly named “leaders.” Everyone begins to take on part of the responsibility and actively participate in creating a human-centered society.
Leadership in times of chaos is not control, but the courage to step beyond the known.
Right now, we are living through a change initiated by the young people of this country.
They teach us that things can be different – because young leaders do not wait for change to happen – they create it themselves.
It is time to stop trying to open doors with the wrong key.
It is time to change our approach – starting with ourselves.
Only in this way, together, can we regenerate our civilization.
Let us not collapse this civilization – but improve it together.
Author: Branislava Simović
August 29th 2025