Conversation frameworks for parents + families. Really! (1 of 2)
Five tools that can help you at home
-Today’s free tool: T5.4 Well-being Map
-Share this with 3 friends or colleagues - “Hey XXXX, My good friend Greg just published a book with “tools” out the wazoo that can pretty much help you with anything in work, school, and life. You can get it on Amazon. Thought you might be interested. Here are some applications. Check it out. Have a great day, YYYY”
All of the “tools” in my new book are simply frameworks for positive, purposeful, and constructive conversations. And, as I’ve learned and am continuing to learn through recent conversations, these frameworks can be used in all kinds of different ways. There are obvious applications in organizations, classrooms, communities, etc. And there are less obvious applications. One of these less obvious ones is for parents and families. I’ve included five application ideas here, amongst many possible ones.
Note: An obvious use for parents and families is when you’re volunteering. That’s “external.” Here I’m focusing on more “internal” applications. I’ll focus on volunteering in another email.
T1.1 OUR TEAM (p. 110)
Think of your team as all of your family, friends, neighbors you know, and people in your overall network. This framework might be helpful when you’re looking for a job, looking for an internship opportunity for one of your kids, during a college search, etc. This can help you be intentional about mapping your connections and might help you realize who you can/should call on for advice, support, etc.
T1.3 OUR CORE VALUES (p. 114)
What are your core values? What are your family’s core values? Do you know what really matters to your children right now? Are they on your fridge? If you’re coaching, have you decided on core values with your team? Use this tool as directed or adapt it for your own circumstances. In particular, core values are great to point to when we’re trying to make decisions together. “Which option is most in line with our agreed-upon core values?”
T5.4 WELL-BEING MAP (p. 198)
Use this on your own to do a self-assessment of your well-being. Or maybe use this with a partner/spouse to assess your family’s well-being. It’s super simple. Figure out where you have strengths (Always start with strengths!) and what you need to work on. And of course, talk about “Why?” And talk about how things are interrelated. This can help you analyze and come up with a plan to focus on improving you and your family’s overall well-being.
T4.2 PROBLEM TREE ANALYSIS (p. 176)
Think of the problem tree as a heuristic, a shortcut for analyzing problems. It’s useful for all ages. I love this simple framework. There are three parts:
- What’s the problem as you currently see it (the trunk)?
- What are the root causes of the problem (the roots)?
- What are the effects of the problem (the branches)?
You don’t need to use the tool itself (This is always the case.) Just get your family/kids in the habit of talking and brainstorming about these three questions when a problem comes up. This should help spark instructive and insightful conversations. It should also help relieve some uncertainty, a real stressor.
T5.3 EMPOWERMENT MAP (p. 196)
This may be last on the list for today, but most certainly it’s not the least. I created this for working with first-time women entrepreneurs and only realized later that it can be used for just about anything. This is certainly a Swiss Army knife tool. The thing is, we need to be empowered to achieve any goal. That means we have to have the ability, the incentives, and the resources. Use this for the college application process, for analyzing sports team goals, for retirement goals, for learning a new hobby or trade, for making a career change, etc.
I hope you found this helpful. Please do reach out to me at gregvankirk@gmail.com or on LinkedIn if I can be of help. And if you haven’t purchased IT’S WHAT YOU SET IN MOTION: A TOOLBOX FOR COLLABORATIVE CHANGEMAKING, go to collaborativechangemaking.com.
-Note: Reach out to me if you’d like to explore consulting, facilitation support, setting up a professional development workshop/ series, etc.