I wrote the psychologically based Political Straight Talk: A Prescription for Healing Our Broken System of Government with Kathryn L. Robyn. Kathryn’s editorial contributions to the book’s content were invaluable, not just for her writing skills, but the intellectual properties of the book were greatly enhanced by her input as well.

Normally, a book of this nature ends up being an arduous task, fact checking, resource double-checking, structuring and restructuring, and revising and revising … and revising. In this case, it was anything but grueling and toilsome, because I thoroughly enjoyed working with Kathryn. And as a result, we were able to produce a book that not only explains why the political climate of today is so choleric and polarizing, but we also offer a clear and viable nonpartisan solution in what we need to do to fix our broken system of government.

The thing that makes this book unique is that it is written by two seniors, I’m 83, and Kathryn is just shy of 62 years of age. The reason it’s so distinctive and perhaps special is because by being over 60, we’re in the stage of life where we can choose to use the wisdom that can only come with experience. As the saying goes, this—in regard to civil unrest and polarization around the country—is not our first rodeo.

As our forefathers did, as coauthors, Kathryn and I valued each other’s strengths and contributions, a respect that only grew as our collaboration progressed. This is how I like to imagine our Founding Fathers working when the Declaration of Independence was written and the Constitution was framed, documents that continue to be revered the world over, and in that respect, have stood the test of time.

The average age of those who attended the Constitutional Convention was about 44 years of age. Their average lifespan would be just about 67, while the average lifespan of that era was about 47 years for men and 50 for women. Anyone who reached 44 years of age might well be considered “seniors” of that period. It is easy to think those men were smarter than politicians are today. They were certainly better educated, with the intensive classical educations that men of their class tended to receive in those days. But even more, they challenged one another to rise to some level of wisdom in their vision and discourse, a level that few bother to reach for today. That helps us understand why so much of what they wrote and said and did continues to be worthy of note and important to heed if our country will be able to sustain itself and prosper in today’s world, where all children have the right to dream of a better reality.

In like fashion. Kathryn and I working together challenged us to think about solutions for the future of our country, combining our interests and obsessions, comparing and contrasting our experiences and bases of knowledge, and utilizing our complementary skills. Neither of us could have done it alone, just as our governmental system couldn’t have been developed by one person and our better future cannot be achieved by one person or one group or even one party. But choosing to use that wisdom is what counts.

Think about a time when working in collaboration improved a result you were aiming for. Never mind how hard it can be to incorporate someone else’s viewpoint; that’s why they say democracy is slow and difficult, but the best system we’ve come up with so far. Kathryn and I are a testament to the old adage, two heads are better than one. We could all stand to learn better how to work in collaboration if we are going to live up to our Founding Fathers’ vision of an engaged citizenry. Even kindergarteners strive for a Satisfactory under the column “Plays well with others.” How are you practicing that in your adult lives?