The Adventures of Bonnie and Clyde

The famous couple was caught early in their outlaw career and the district attorney had little evidence to use against the two, so he tried the classic game-theoretic interrogation technique. Clyde was told that Bonnie was being interrogated by one of his colleagues. Both would be convicted for 5 years if they both confessed, but if Bonnie confessed while Clyde remained silent, she would go free while he would be locked up for 10 years instead. The district attorney reminded him that con men and women always go for the deal, so he would be stupid if he tried protecting her. Clyde laughed in his face and said "This woman has taken a bullet for me. Execute me on the spot, I will never betray my soul sister!"

Economists and game theorists have long assumed that we are rational, at least up to recently, when the psychologists have started to take over. But what exactly is rational? If your mother, brother or best friend was put in a similar friend versus foe exercise, how do you think they would choose, on your behalf or against you? Most decisions can be boiled down to self-interest versus love. When you choose love, God will be standing right next to you, and your brothers and sisters might be more responsive to your benevolent attitude than you can imagine.

You might say that this idea that love conquers all may exist at home, but will surely backfire in a professional setting. Well, this is something you can experiment with. The secret is that your sisters and brothers will react to you the way you perceive them and the situation. See them as competitors, or try to get something from them and they will pay back in kind. Choose love instead and they will be kind.

The advantage you have at work today over Clyde when he faced his decision is that you can run thousands of little experiments over the years. My hypothesis, true kindness will get you further in your career than your time tested competitive spirit. You certainly will be happier that way. You might be in for a surprise and your colleagues might just respond in kind. In those cases where they appear to take advantage of you, it might imply that you have been naive, or it might imply that you still haven't come completely clean towards them. I don't think you have that much to lose by being kind, so please give the adventure of kindness a try.