Cordelia does Selection Criteria: a cautionary tale for CEOs and recruiters

Introducing 

The Cordelia Variant

of the syndrome currently known as "Autism"

Cordelia's Portion (Ford Maddox Brown)

Synopsis

King Lear, aging ruler of Britain intends on retiring and wishes to divide his kingdom between his three daughters, Goneril, Regan, and Cordelia

But to win the greatest share, they must meet such selection criteria as he devises

Being an absolute ruler whose power has clearly stupefied him absolutely, he reckons one criterion is all he needs, to wit,  “Which of my daughters loves me the most?”

He makes a Very Baaaaaaaaaad Choice

Spoiler Alert!

In the end, everybody dies 😥

By the end of this exercise, you will have learnt:

• King Lear’s Cordelia is possibly the first Autie in English literature
• If you frame your selection criteria to invite flattery and self-promotion,  you may find you got the wrong person for the job.
• And by the time they've successfully climbed over your head up the corporate ladder, you may be looking for a job yourself
• Identify the characteristics of the Cordelia Syndrome/ Variant/ Virtuosity

Lesson Plan

1. Do the required reading
   *You may apply for an exemption if you have Severe Acquired Shakespeare Intolerance due to early traumatic experiences with the Bard in high school
2. Learn the to recognise the signs of Cordelia Virtuosity amongst your candidates
3. Demonstrate your proficiency as a recruiter by intelligently discussing the set questions amongst your peers

Required reading

King Lear Act 1. Scene 1 (Disclaimer: text accuracy honoured in the breach) The Selection Criteria KING LEAR Demonstrated fluency in declaring which daughter doth love us most Candidate Responses GONERIL Sire, I love thee more than words can express; Dearer than eye-sight, space, and liberty; Beyond the rarest riches. No less than life itself, TBH, with grace, health, beauty, honour; As much as child e'er loved, that makes breath poor, and speech unable; blah blah etc etc GRAND DUCHESS JUDE (GDJ) [Aside] OMG, how canst Regan and Cordelia toppeth this? CORDELIA  [Aside] OMG, what shall Cordelia do? Mine tongue bendeth not to flattery. Methinks will I best love and be silent GDJ [Aside] Marry, craven Regan picketh up the gauntlet and runneth withal So REGAN goes #MeToo Sire! My sister hath taken the words right out of mine mouth only she falls way short. Trust me,  I alone bask in the sunshine of your dear highness' love CORDELIA  [Aside] Ah poor me! For want of that glib and oily art, I am undone! Now must needs I step into this breach Exeunt GDJ, leaving the rest to Shakespeare overcome at the tragic lack of Neurodiversity Awareness amongst Elizabethans . . . KING LEAR Now, our joy, Although the last, not least; what can you say to draw A third more opulent than your sisters? Speak. CORDELIA Nothing, my lord. KING LEAR Nothing! CORDELIA Nothing. KING LEAR Nothing will come of nothing: speak again. CORDELIA Unhappy that I am, I cannot heave My heart into my mouth: I love your majesty  According to my bond; nor more nor less <... etc etc...> KING LEAR So young, and so untender? CORDELIA So young, my lord, and true. KING LEAR Let it be so; thy truth, then, be thy dower: For, by the sacred radiance of the sun, The mysteries of Hecate, and the night; By all the operation of the orbs From whom we do exist, and cease to be; Here I disclaim all my paternal care, Propinquity and property of blood, And as a stranger to my heart and me Hold thee, from this, for ever. E'en the barbarous Scythian, Or he that makes his generation messes To gorge his appetite, shall to my bosom Be as well neighbour'd, pitied, and relieved, As thou my sometime daughter. FYI Lear full script here

 IT DOTH NOT END WELL

The wicked sisters soon throw Lear out 
to wander mad on the icy blasted heath 

Too late doth he wake to his folly 
For alas, poor Cordelia, she is dead

King Lear weeping over Cordelia's body
Artist James Barry 1788

King Lear mourns Cordelia, then kills himself.

Everyone else is already dead anyway

What is the Cordelia Virtuosity?

From birth, Cordelians: 

• find being deceptive mentally painful
  thus cannot lie, deceive, cheat or self-promote
  
  
• find illogic mentally painful
  thus can't bear being illogical themselves, can't stand it in others
  
  
• have no more "Theory of Minds (0ther than their 0wn)" than anyone else
  thus they have no "Theory of Deceptive Minds"
  and can naively end up being exploited by those who do
  
  
• have not a skerrick of  malice or desire to hurt
  but their logical bluntness can be misunderstood
  
  

But let's not go overboard with a tendancy to the Rainbows and Sunshine School of Neurodiversity

Cordelians may be born Holy Innocents, but that does not make them "Inherently Saints". Allegiance to pure logic based on mistaken assumptions can also lead to extremism, conspiracist thinking and unfortunate allegiances aka "Sidekick Ayndrome"

Questions for discussion

1. Would Cornelia have benefitted from Social Skills Training?
   
   
2. When is masking a good idea? 
   
   
3. What questions could King Lear have asked to determine who would make the best ruler for his country