The importance of cooperation

I want to start out this month with one of my favorite jokes.

A company has a job opening and has narrowed the potential candidates down to three. The first finalist, a mathematician, comes in for the final interview and the interviewer explains that there is only one question: What is two plus two? The mathematician, just a little stunned, pauses for a moment and responds, four. The interviewer then calls in the second finalist, an engineer. Same routine, one question: What’s two plus two? The engineer replies, that’s easy, four. The interviewer then calls in the third finalist, an accountant. The interviewer again asks the one interview question: What is two plus two? The accountant sits thoughtfully for just a moment, then walks over to the window and pulls the shades, walks over and closes the door and returns to his seat. He then looks at the interviewer and asks: What do you want it to be?

We’ve probably all heard the adage we laugh because it’s funny, we laugh because it’s true. I think this particular joke strikes a chord with me because it resonates on a couple of levels. The first of those is how we view the world. I think we all have a tendency to see most of the problems that lie in front of us in black and white, and somehow ignore the endless shades of gray that lie in between. We live in a time of absolutes.

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