6/10/2011

Myth 227 – Logic of superior beans

This friend (call him John, not this real name) of mine related his interview for the head of Asia Pacific Region marketing job. He was about the best in his field and was head hunted for the position.

Everything went fine and the date for him to come on board was fixed. Then they went into the compensation package details. John was quite comfortable with his half a million dollar package. But being an absolutely honest Singaporean, he told the interviewer his true feelings. He said the job was very attractive and he could also be tempted to be corrupt. There were plenty of opportunities to do so in his new position. He confessed that he was after all a human bean and was subject to temptations of the monetary kind.

He suggested to the interviewer that in paradise such a temptation was easily taken care of by paying a sum that was good enough to keep an honest bean from being corrupt. The interviewer nodded and agreed with him that it was a novel idea of superior logic. They finally agreed that another half a million bucks would do the trick and the company could be 100% at peace that John would do his job well, diligently and would never stoop to corruption. It was a win win situation.

They parted with an assurance that the letter of appointment would follow in the next few days. That was more than a decade ago. The letter of appointment did not arrive. John was also taken off the headhunter’s list. He applied his superior reasoning and concluded that his superior logic was ahead of time and his potential employer was still stuck in the medieval age.

John is now happily driving a taxi as a profession. Of course this story is only good for reading as a fiction.

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