

Whoosh.
There are (at least) two layers of joke here. One is indeed referential of the self importance that is prevalent in professional settings, and that LinkedIn users are especially known for, where the joke pokes fun at this stereotype.
The other layer is that this is a meta joke, actually showing that they understand the premise of the question, but apply the lateral thinking to the situation (rather than question) and at the same time question the practice of lateral thinking interview questions that are trendy, but typically pointless for any hiring decision.


Your edit adds the missing part, this is indeed a twist based off of a joke the reader is expected to already know.