Did you see the Wall Street Journal article, “Family Inc. – Run Your Family Like a Business” by Bruce Feiler this week?
As we continue to strive to juggle work and home life, we thought Bruce had a really interesting perspective on a new generation of parents that are taking solutions from the workplace and transferring them to home life.
This particular excerpt really hit a chord with us:
“The past few years have seen a rapid erosion of the wall that once divided work and family. New technologies allow busy employees to check in with one another during “family time” and allow busy parents to interact with their kids during “work time.” But as close as the two worlds have grown, they’ve rarely exchanged ideas. Parents hoping to improve their families have been stuck with stale techniques from shrinks, self-help gurus and other “family experts.” Meanwhile, in workplaces across America, breakthrough ideas have emerged to make teams run more smoothly.
A new generation of parents is now taking solutions from the workplace and transferring them home. From accountability checklists to family branding sessions, from time-shifting meals to more efficient conflict resolution, families are finally reaping the benefits of decades of groundbreaking research into group dynamics. The result is a bold new blueprint for happy families.”
We think it’s an interesting discussion and agree that the family shouldn’t be run exactly like a workplace, but acknowledge the opportunity to crossover some best practices.
What do you think? Has work inspired any solutions that you’ve found to be successful at home?