"And"

Have you ever looked at the conflicting book reviews on Amazon and wondered, "Did these people read the same book?"

You'll find books that any objective estimate would rate from Good to Excellent get savaged by some reviewers. In those cases you can usually tell that the reviewer - not the book - is the one with the problem. More bitterness than depth is displayed. The book was bound to get their disapproval before a single page was read.

But let us be fair. There will be readers of good will who simply do not care for certain works. Their experience with the book resembles a chemistry experiment where the wrong elements are combined. Nice person. Nice book. Bad mix.

So much of life is combination. We are hardly independent operators who cruise through the world unaffected and unaffecting. The two people on the support team may be stellar performers when apart but only when apart. Conversely, they may be marginal performers when apart but fantastic when working together.

That is why any analysis of organizations and individuals should involve the study of "and."