Growing up Dad would drive me to swimming training early in the morning and to pass the time we would tell each other jokes.
Trained as an accountant with a background in economics and having a very dry sense of humour, this is one of my favourite jokes I remember him recounting me.
A businessman was interviewing job applications for the position of manager of a large division. He quickly devised a test for choosing the most suitable candidate.
He simply asked each applicant this question, "What is one plus one?"
The first interviewee was a journalist. His answer was, "Eleven".
The second was a social worker. She said, "I don't know the answer but I'm very glad that we had the opportunity to discuss it."
The third applicant was an engineer. He pulled out a slide rule and came up with an answer "somewhere between 1.999 and 2.001."
Next came an attorney. He stated that "in the case of Jenkins vs. the Department of the Treasury, one plus one was proven to be two."
Finally, the businessman interviewed an accountant. When he asked him what one plus one was, the accountant got up from his chair, went over to the door, closed it, came back and sat down. Leaning across the desk, he said in a low voice, "How much do you want it to be?"
The accountant got the job.
More than being in awe of my Dad’s wit and humor, he taught me to appreciate that more often than not there is more than one answer to life’s question and the answer can often be "what you want it to be!" . That's the positives of dyslexia.
As a young boy diagnosed with dyslexia this tongue-in-cheek story also encouraged me, in that my academic ability (or lack of) as evidenced in my report card at school, does not automatically equal a future failure in life.
Since then I have discovered many leaders, entrepreneurs and public figures diagnosed with dyslexia as children known to be poor students at school, then later in life labelled heroes and geniuses. Many now credit dyslexia as a problem solving and creative gift, not a disability.
This post was written by Me, as such they are my personal views and not financial or general advice.
You should always seek independent financial advice when it comes to choices about your personal finances. This is one area of your life where it’s worth paying for it to be done right.
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