Here, DHP Law would like to introduce the article of lawyer Tran Duc Hung on analyzing a presumptive reason for divorce of couple Bill Gates and Melinda from the perspective of a theory of corporate governance as follows:
When I studied Business Administration, I loved the lesson on analyzing and applying Maslow’s Human Needs Pyramid in work and life, especially to assess customer needs before making decisions. Business.
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is briefly understood as people have 5 types of needs from low to high according to the ladder principle: 1) The lowest is biological needs (such as eating, sleeping, traveling, sex… and other basic needs); 2) Next is the need for safety and security (such as the desire for protection, shelter, safety, stability in life, religious needs…) ; 3) Next is social needs (such as communication, social relations, community activities, expansion of relationships, participation in communities, groups …) ; 4) Next is the need to be respected (such as being honored, having one’s role recognized, being respected by others, the need for status…); 5) And finally, the need to be Expressed (such as being free to express opinions, asserting one’s meaning in life, searching for one’s reason in life, being satisfied with themselves, to express their aspirations, passions, etc.) .
When working as a lawyer to mediate and deal with divorce cases, I see more clearly how Maslow’s hierarchy of needs above plays a role and meaning in deciding the existence or termination of a marriage. the marriage. Most couples divorce because of a conflict in expressing a need in the 5 levels of needs mentioned above (conflict because the partner does not meet, does not understand, and even becomes the one who hinders the needs of each other). own) . For example, there are couples who are in conflict because of different biological and physiological needs; There are couples who are in conflict because of the need to be respected (the husband wants to be respected but the wife cannot do it or vice versa), there are couples who are conflicted because of their emotional needs…
Going back to Bill and Melinda’s divorce, I don’t mean to dig into this marriage because it’s private; But looking at the application of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, I have some analysis as follows:
(Photo: Internet)
In my opinion, the reason why this couple’s marriage broke up was also due to a conflict when solving one of the needs in Maslow’s human needs pyramid above. So what is that?
Bill and Melinda had it all: money, status, social connections, respect. So what about the highest need is the need to be expressed, to be free to express the desire to create one’s reason for life… at the present time, how is it expressed? For talented and rich people like Bill and Melinda, the more redundant the 4 needs below are, the more powerful this 5th need will arise because they no longer have to spend time struggling with 4 needs. basic needs below like the vast majority of us. Now, they live to freely find their next principle and reason for living after the successes that have been respected and recognized by the world. And when each person is always aiming for the freedom to express their new views and reasons for living in their own way, according to their own opinions, if those views and reasons begin to contradict each other, the married life will be different. arise irreconcilable and irreconcilable conflicts. The contradiction in the freedom to express opinions and views has probably existed for several years for this couple.
We can see that, after the establishment of the Bill and Melinda Charity Foundation, even the orientation of this charity fund’s activities is different in Bill and Melinda’s thinking: Bill wants to focus on activities. public health, while Melinda wants to target activities to protect children and women in poor countries. Most recently, they expressed a contradiction in their views on protecting or sharing intellectual property rights for Covid-19 vaccines: Bill holds a strong stance and stance on not sharing intellectual property rights. for the production of vaccine against covid 19 to promote competition and develop this vaccine; and Melinda tends to want the intellectual property rights to this Vaccine to be shared widely immediately to address the urgent need today. The needs of each person to express their views and positions as mentioned above are probably the factors pushing the conjugal harmony further and further away.
So someone will ask why did this conflict arise after living together for 27 years?
In my opinion, because the needs of each spouse are always changing from time to time. Maybe this 5th level need (the need for freedom and expression) of this couple has been reconciled quite well; But when each person appears a new need, this new need makes the other person feel unable to share, understand and support anymore. Observations show that after the establishment of charity funds, Melinda’s role has become stronger, she has also confirmed her success and status, her role is not inferior to that of Bill. Thus, Melinda has also arisen new needs to find a way to lead charity funds in the right direction; As for Bill, after leaving the Microsoft executive chair, there was a new need to express the freedom in finding a new way of life, which is to contribute to the world’s public health with his own stance. Bill. When these new needs of each person appear strong, but their partner finds it incompatible and accepting, gradually serious and irreparable conflicts arise, leading to divorce.
And finally, I want to say that the conflict and reason for breaking up of every couple, from celebrities to the most ordinary people, should probably be respected and kept secret because no one can tell. exactly outside of the insider. Therefore, my above analyzes are personal assumptions for the purpose of analyzing and applying Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs theory in life and business only. But maybe in my opinion, we don’t need to care too deeply about the reason for Bill and Melinda’s divorce, but in this story, we need to learn from Bill and Melinda about civilized divorce and mutual respect. theirs: no noise, husband and wife agree on everything; does not affect anyone and it is important not to waste too much paper on public opinion in the style of Bill Gates. In my opinion, even though divorced, the Bill Gates couple is still the happiest couple because happiness is sometimes not about trying to live together, but about giving each other freedom in civilization and peace of mind. respect each other.
P/s: Above is a fun assumption I made over the weekend to show everyone why it’s important to learn and understand Maslow’s Hierarchy of Human Needs; It is not intended to have anything to do with the life or private life of Bill and Melinda, who are so famous in the world and have made great contributions to humanity in many fields.
Source: Lawyer Tran Duc Hung.
