Family Inc.: Office-Inspired Solutions To Reduce the Chaos in Your Home (and Save Your Sanity!)

Professional writers and husband-and-wife team the Friedmans experienced what they call a "joint panic attack" and took back control of their chaotic home life by introducing common workplace standards such as job responsibilities, weekly meetings, and budget-reporting protocols. If that sounds like a trendy upper-class problem, consider that "forty years ago, there was no question about who was packing the school lunch …..or cooking the Sunday pot roast. These days, we…are all doing too much, [and the] upshot is that rather than adhering to outdated gender roles, every modern two-career couple has to determine a division of labor that works for them." The authors begin with a visionary session, asking the "team" to identify their own strengths, weaknesses, and goals. Readers are then instructed to identify all home and family tasks, including daily chores, such as school lunches, and yearly tasks, such as automobile registration renewals. After the mutually agreeable delegation is complete, readers are then advised on various ways to let go and not micromanage their partner.