The Solutionist Group | Family Business Resolution Blogs

Cause 12: Empathy

Welcome to another episode of Family Business Makes No Sense, where we explore why mixing a family with a business almost guarantees conflict — and what you can do to prevent, minimise, or resolve it. As the attached document puts it: “Because family and business are such naturally opposing concepts, they will inevitably find themselves […]

Cause 11: Emotional Intelligence

Welcome to another episode of Family Business Makes No Sense, where we explore why mixing a family with a business almost guarantees conflict — and what you can do to prevent or resolve it. As the attached document puts it: “By putting a family and a business together, you’re inevitably going to create conflict at […]

Cause #10: Mindsets

Family Business Makes No Sense — so let’s talk about it. This series explores the fundamental idea that family and business are such oppositional concepts that mixing them almost guarantees conflict. As the attached document puts it: “Family and business are such fundamentally different concepts with such oppositional success factors… you are inevitably going to […]

Cause #9: Conflicting Needs, Wants & Interests

Welcome to another episode of Family Business Makes No Sense, where we explore why combining the concepts of family and business almost guarantees conflict. As the attached document puts it: “Family and business should never be put together. They are completely opposing concepts.” And yet, many families do exactly that — often with great hopes, […]

Cause #8: Parenting Styles & Practices

This series explores 50 reasons why, through the lens of conflict, family business makes no sense. The very things that make families work well — nurture, protection, unconditional support — are in direct contradiction to the things that make businesses work well — accountability, performance, structure, and discipline. As the attached document puts it: “Putting […]

Cause #7: Dysfunctional Personalities & Disruptive Behaviours

Welcome to another episode of Family Business Makes No Sense, where we explore why combining the concept of family with the concept of business almost guarantees conflict. As the attached document puts it: “The concept of family is so diametrically opposed to the concept of business… you are inevitably going to experience conflict as those […]

Cause #6: Fossilised Leaders

Welcome to another episode of Family Business Makes No Sense, where we explore why people put families into businesses despite the fact that the very things that make families successful are fundamentally opposed to the things that make businesses successful. As the attached document puts it: “When we have that fundamental oppositional success factors, the […]

Cause #5: Broken Promises & Unmet Expectations

Welcome to another episode of Family Business Makes No Sense, where we unpack why the concepts of family and business are so naturally oppositional — and why that clash inevitably leads to conflict. As the attached document puts it: “Because the concepts of family and business are so naturally oppositional, they inevitably lead to conflict… […]

Cause #4: Ages & Stages

Welcome to another episode of Family Business Challenges, where we explore why — in my opinion — family business as a concept makes no sense. And because I’ve spent decades working with families in business, I’m also going to share how to make it make sense. As the document puts it: “This series is all […]

Cause #3: Narcissism

After several decades working with families in business, one truth has become impossible to ignore: “Family business as a concept makes no sense.” Family and business are opposing entities. The things that make families work well — nurture, protection, emotional loyalty — often clash with the things that make businesses work well — accountability, structure, […]

Cause #2: Emotional Baggage

If you’ve been part of one, you already know this. And if you haven’t, welcome to the second instalment of our signature series: Family Business as a Concept Makes No Sense — where we unpack the real reasons families in business end up in conflict, and how to make sense of the chaos. I’m John […]

Cause #1: Personality Differences

Family Business Makes No Sense — And Here’s Why Family business makes no sense. There, I said it. If you’ve ever worked in one, grown up in one, or tried to manage one, you already know this deep in your bones. The idea of combining family and business sounds wholesome in theory — but in […]

Cause #34: Collaboration & Teamwork

Collaboration & Teamwork in Family Business — Why They Break Down and How to Rebuild Them Family businesses love to assume that collaboration and teamwork will happen naturally. After all, we’re family, right? We trust each other, we care about each other, and we all want the same things. Except… that assumption is exactly where […]

Cause 33: Silence & Secrecy

Silence, Secrecy & the Hidden Conflicts That Derail Family Businesses Family businesses rarely fall apart because of loud arguments, explosive fights, or dramatic confrontations. More often, they unravel quietly — through the things that are not said. As you put it in the episode, “in a family business, it’s really what’s not said that causes […]

Cause #32 Bloodline Rivalry

Bloodline rivalry is one of the most underestimated and misunderstood sources of conflict in business families. As Jon Kenfield explains, “bloodline rivalry is like the grown‑up version of sibling rivalry” — a natural childhood dynamic that, if left unmanaged, can evolve into a powerful and destructive force across generations. While sibling rivalry helps children learn […]

Cause #31 Marriage & Divorce

Marriage, Divorce & Blended Families — The Hidden Fault Lines in Family Businesses Marriage, de facto relationships, separation, divorce, and blended families are deeply emotional life events — but inside a family business, they become something even more complex: system‑wide disruptions that can reshape loyalties, destabilise governance, and expose the business to financial and legal […]

Cause #30: Spousal Influence

Observations Spouses and life partners (called “spouses” here for brevity) can exert powerful influence inside a business family — not only over their own partner, but across the whole family system. At their best, spouses bring wisdom, balance, emotional maturity, stability at home, fresh perspective, and a stronger platform for raising children and building long-term […]

Cause #29: Family Governance

Observations Many people in family business understand they’re running a family business, but they don’t always acknowledge the other reality sitting behind it: they’re also running a business family — or at least being supported by one — especially in multi-generational enterprises. Over time, every successful multi-generational family business evolves into a business family, having […]

Cause #28: Avoidance, Denial and a Slow Poisoning

Observations Business families are notorious for taking shortcuts and following paths of least resistance when it comes to recognising and dealing with unpleasant tensions between family members. The unconscious driver is: “If we don’t talk about it, maybe it will go away.” But in business families, problems don’t disappear. They go underground to ferment, strengthen, […]

Cause #27: Family Succession

Why succession remains one of the most powerful conflict triggers in family enterprises What “Succession” Really Means The word succession comes from the Latin successio, meaning a following after. In a family enterprise context, succession is the deliberate transition of ownership, leadership, and management of businesses, assets, and legacies from one generation to the next. […]

Cause #26: Roles and Responsibilities

(Why unclear “who does what” turns family business into the Wild West) One of the most reliable generators of conflict in a family business is surprisingly simple: nobody is fully sure who is responsible for what, who has authority to decide, and who is accountable when things go wrong. Founders often dismiss titles and job […]

Cause #25: Family Ethics, Culture and Discipline

(Why “how we do things” beats strategy, and why weak standards quietly breed conflict) Family businesses rarely run purely on logic, plans, KPIs, budgets, or org charts. They run on something far more powerful and far more fragile: the behavioural patterns a family has developed over decades — first at home, then transferred into the […]

Cause #24: Family Plans (Values, Visions and Goals)

(Why families lose businesses when they don’t agree where they’re going together) “For want of a nail the shoe was lost…” — Proverb Reframed for family enterprise: “For want of a Plan the Family was lost, For want of a Family the Business was lost, And all for the want of a Family Plan.” — […]

Cause #23: What’s Fair? Equal Ain’t Equitable

(Why “treating everyone the same” is one of the fastest ways to trigger family business conflict) One of the most common causes of conflict in business families comes from a well-intentioned mistake: confusing equality with equity. Equality means giving everyone the same benefits. Equity means giving people what is fair, reasonable, and appropriate—based on contribution, […]

Cause #22: The Birth Order Lottery

Why Birth Order Matters More Than Families Think Birth order dynamics refer to how the sequence of birth within a generation influences roles, expectations, status, and behaviour. In many business families, birth order quietly shapes who is perceived as the “leader,” who becomes the “mediator,” and who is expected to “fit in” — often before […]

Cause #21: Parenting Styles and Practices

Why Parenting Matters in Family Business Conflict (Observations – not medical opinions) One of the most persistent and underestimated root causes of conflict in family businesses originates not in boardrooms, ownership structures, or succession plans—but in the family home, decades earlier. Many of the conflicts that surface in adult family business relationships are not new. […]

Cause #20: Tradition & Legacy – Blessing or Curse?

“Behind every great Family Business lies a great Business Family.” – Solutionist proverb Tradition and legacy sit at the heart of every family business story. They can be stabilising anchors, guiding lights, or powerful sources of meaning. But they can also be heavy weights—restricting innovation, blocking change, and trapping families in outdated patterns that no […]

Cause #19: CEO Syndrome

In many family firms, the founder’s identity fuses with the role. Stepping back feels like stepping into the void, so succession stalls. The effects: decision paralysis, talent drain, and family conflict. The fix is not a one-day handover but a designed process—governance, role redesign, identity work, and a paced transition that preserves dignity, relevance, and […]

Cause #18: Disrespect, Mistrust & Unconscious Biases

In family businesses, disrespect wounds dignity, mistrust erodes confidence, and unconscious biases quietly poison fairness. Together, they migrate across the family–business boundary, stall decisions, and corrode culture. The antidote: visible leadership standards, promise hygiene, transparent plans, objective roles/KPIs, a reconciliation protocol for breaches, and deliberate bias-mitigation. Why This Trio Is So Destructive Family life runs […]

Cause #17: Ownership vs Stewardship

Every family business walks a tightrope between ownership (rights, control, and independence) and stewardship(responsibility, duty, and legacy). When family members hold conflicting attitudes toward these mindsets, conflict is inevitable—usually around money, control, and time horizons. Alignment, governance, and courageous decision-making are the antidotes. The Core Divide: Ownership vs Stewardship Ownership = Rights & Control Ownership […]

Cause #16: Sibling Rivalry & Personal Jealousies

Sibling rivalry is common—and combustible—when it follows siblings into the family firm. Old resentments meet adult stakes (status, pay, power, succession), creating factions, stalled decisions, and delayed transitions. The fix: name the pattern, surface the history safely, reset roles and rules, and install governance that pairs care with accountability. What We Mean by “Sibling Rivalry” […]

Cause #15: Broken Wing Syndrome

Broken Wing Syndrome (“BWS”) is when a well-meaning parent over-protects an under-performing adult child, unintentionally entrenching dependence and low resilience. In a family business, that over-protection warps decision-making, erodes accountability, poisons culture, and often explodes during succession. The fix: recognise the pattern, depersonalise it, and restructure roles, support and governance so the individual (and business) […]

Cause #14 Imposter Syndrome

Observations Impostor Syndrome is a psychological condition—a recognised pattern of thoughts, feelings, and behaviours that cause a person distress, impaired daily functioning, or significant departures from behavioural norms. Imposters (individuals suffering from Imposter Syndrome) experience emotional trauma that overwhelms their ability to manage life and work. They’re often in a state of mild to full-on […]

Cause #13: Founder Syndrome

Founder Syndrome is a common challenge in growing businesses, especially family-run enterprises. It occurs when a founder struggles to adapt their leadership style to the evolving needs of a scaling business. While their early-stage intensity and hands-on approach were crucial for launching the company, these traits can become obstacles as the business grows in complexity. [...]Read More

The Hidden Costs of Poor Succession Planning

Family businesses are the backbone of the Australian economy, making up over 70% of all businesses and contributing significantly to GDP. Yet for all their strengths, they face unique challenges when it comes to passing the torch to the next generation to ensure business continuity. Poor succession planning can lead to big financial losses, cessation […]

“Family Business” … makes no sense! Introduction (Part 2)

(sans knowledge, focus, skills, and discipline) Conflict (noun): “a serious disagreement or argument between people with opposing views, opinions, values or principles – often over a protracted period”. Conflict (verb): “different, incompatible, at variance, opposing, clashing”. There is no family on the planet, now or ever, that entirely avoids conflict between its members. That’s not, […]

“Family Business” … makes no sense! Introduction (Part 1)

(sans knowledge, focus, skills, and discipline). Introduction (Part 1) Every family business has a business family sitting behind it, but the basic concept behind “Family Business” actually makes no sense, because every commercial driver needed to make a good business conflicts with the human success factors that make families happy: This creates a huge conundrum: […]

Navigating Family Dynamics in Business: Brothers, Allies, or Monsters?

Business Families Every family business has a business family sitting behind it, BUT: family business makes no sense – because what makes for a great business generally conflicts with what makes families happy. This fundamental dichotomy can produce all-conquering family teams, conflict-infused relationships, and everything in-between. Business Family relationship dynamics can get very muddy, because […]

My Family Business: Is Dad a Monster?

Every family business has a business family sitting behind it, BUT: family business makes no sense – because what makes for a great business generally conflicts with what makes families happy. This fundamental dichotomy can produce an all-conquering family team, conflict-infused relationships, or something in-between. Families get very confused – families are supposed to be […]

My Family Business: is Mum a Mum, Matriarch, or Monster?

Every family business has a business family sitting behind it, and because family business makes no sense each and every one of them is a vibrant and complicated mix of colliding commercial, financial, relational, and emotional systems. Sometimes this results in an all-conquering family team, sometimes in a conflict-infused misery and, at all times: an […]

Life Lessons #7: Improvisation vs Models in Professional Advisory Work

Trick question! Both approaches have their place and their legitimate uses. Combining them can deliver superior results for clients and advisers alike. It all comes down to CONTEXT. Considerations: Flexibility and Adaptability. Improvisation gives advisers “permission” to adapt quickly to unique and unpredictable circumstances – enabling them to think on their feet, solve problems creatively, […]

Life Lesson #6: Be Comfortable in your own Skin

Observations To be comfortable in your own skin is to make peace with who and what you are, be it: successful or struggling, rich or poor, bright or not-so-much, beautiful or plain, weak or strong, short, bald, fat, or old. Basically, you feel OK about yourself and aren’t ashamed, nor feel any need to apologise […]

Governance for Small and Medium Businesses

(Talk given to CEO Institute Syndicate #1 on 18th July 2023) Good governance improves the likelihood of enjoying long-term success and sustainability in any business. Small and Medium Business – we’re talking to businesses with revenues between $10M and $250M and/or a permanent or casual workforce between 10 and 200 people. They’re privately owned, led, […]

Life Lesson #5: Unlearning to Learn

Most professional advisors develop certain habits and ways of working, over time, that become inviolate components of professional practice as automatic processes in their service delivery. Standardised services become commoditised services. Commoditised services are easily duplicated, rapidly devalued, readily purloined, and ultimately replaced by clients always looking for quicker, cheaper, more accessible solutions. The practices […]

Life Lesson #4: Hope is not a Strategy… but every Strategy needs Hope

Observations I often observe people seriously over-using the words: “hope” and “hopefully” when outlining their expectations and intentions. This immediately activates my BS radar and every additional utterance of either word make me feel increasingly uncomfortable. Why? Consequences If the individual is in a position of power and/or responsibility, expect trouble. They’re either: (a) creating […]

Significant Advice for Significant Clients

“There are certain things that are fundamental to human fulfillment. The essence of these needs is captured in the phrase;to live, to love, to learn, to leave a legacy.The need to live is our physical need for such things as food, clothing, shelter, economical well-being, health. The need to love is our social need to […]

Why Business Families, and Family Businesses, need Boards

Background Family Businesses are the engine room of the Australian economy. They employ over 50% of the Australian workforce and generate over 50% of GDP. Family Business is not small business, although many Family Businesses are small. They also comprise approximately 100 of the 500 largest companies in Australia. Many are large corporations. However, and […]

Life Lesson #3: Rites of Passage and Growth Mindset

“It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.” – Charles Darwin Rites are solemn or ceremonial activities. They can be publicly prescriptive, as in religious ceremonies, or privately improvised, in personal development activities. Rites of Passage originated as ancient, critical markers of […]

Life Lesson #2: Emotional vs Rational Elements in Relationship Conflicts

Observations Several decades ago I began to focus the attentions of my commercial dispute resolution practice on family business conflicts. It soon became apparent that, to a far greater extent than with commercial disputes, I needed to really understand the characters, personalities, and back stories of the humans I was working with before I could […]

Life Lesson #1: Leopards don’t change their spots

Observations Mediating family business tensions shows that understanding the characters, personalities, and life stories of relevant family members is at least as important as the technical skills and processes used to help resolve their conflict. Without an empathic understanding of what’s driving the humans, I can’t accurately detect, much less help them frame for use, […]

Why I feel like a Goose

Why I feel like a Goose I’ve been a Family Business Solutionist for many years – acting as a best practice adviser, mediator, and strategic problem-solver. Generally, and despite the complexity and unpredictability baked into the family business sector, we’ve achieved good outcomes. BUT, when engagements last longer than expected, and morph into something quite […]

Inflation Fears Halt Succession Plans

Déjà vu? When the GFC hit (2007 – 2009), the succession plans of many family businesses came to an abrupt halt as legions of outgoing leaders suddenly re-cast themselves into the roles of business heroes and saviours – ostensibly because they’d lived through, and survived, previous recessions and financial crises. In their minds their successors […]

“More, or “Meaningful”?

by Jon Kenfield MBO (Note: this is my personal, unauthorised take on what somebody else said). James E Hughes Jr. is a US attorney and the author of several highly influential books about preserving and enhancing family wealth. Hughes postulates that while financial capital provides practical support for multi-generational families, their true wealth lies in […]

“Don’t Mention the War!” – Lessons learnt working with Business Families

1. What is Old will never be New again – elongation of life expectancy Observations Our Past: Family succession was usually caused by the physical and/or mental incapacity or death of family leaders. Historically, this is why Wills were the prime determinants (one can’t really say “guides”) for family succession and inheritance. Our Present: We’re […]

Cause #50 3rd Parties – Externals

Observations The actions and inactions of non-family: Directors, Managers, Employees and Advisers (“Externals”) are a common cause of conflict in Family Business. Family Businesses are notorious for birthing warring cliques and factions – supporters for: Mum vs Dad; siblings against siblings (or cousins); generation against generation; and employees against family – please get them out […]

Cause #49 Old Retainers

Observations Old Retainers are a common cause of conflict in family business. Typically, Mum or Dad has worked with “old Phyllis / Sam” since the early days and over the years has (allegedly) promised: “we’ll always look after you”, in return for their unconditional loyalty. Conflicts arise when new business leaders are pressured to honour […]

Cause #48 Emotional Trauma & Disruptive Behaviours

Observations Psychology is the science of understanding how people think, feel, behave and learn. Collectively, this is the functional domain of the mind – which is not the same thing as the brain: a single, identifiable, physical organ. Psychological trauma describes damage to the mind that occurs as a result of a distressing event – often the […]

Cause #47 Religious/Ethnic Issues and Cultural Norms

Observations Every family has its own culture – which determines how it rolls. Some family cultures are based on strongly traditional religious and/or ethnic guidelines and directives, while others are more modern and laissez-faire. All family cultures exert powerful influences on personal values, expectations and behaviours – in the family, and often in its business […]

Cause #46 Family Talent

Observations “Talent” describes a person’s natural aptitude. It’s a predictor of potential ability, but it’s not ability itself. Most people can generally learn basic skills. Acquiring advanced skills and capabilities requires the application of training and experience to an appropriate measure of talent. Along the scale, talent separates the incompetent, the mediocre, and the sublime. […]

Cause #45 Retirement & Other Exits

Observations Generational transition (aka “succession”) and the retirement of one or some people that comes with it, is THE major cause of conflict in family business. 85% of my working life is spent trying to resolve the tensions that arise in business families through stalled and/or conflicted successions, and their many related issues. “Retirement” means, […]

Cause #44 Business Performance

Business performance or, more often: lack of same, is a common cause of conflict in Family Business. When business results are not what they could and should be, and worse, are not what people need them to be, tensions mount, and conflict often follows close behind. Poor business performance has many causes – some avoidable, […]

Cause #43 Aligning Personal, Family, and Business Values

Observations Values are personal internal motivators that encourage humans to do what they do, the way they do it, when they do it. They’re a key component of character and personality, being created by a mixture of: genetics, intelligence, education, environmental upbringing and training (from home, social, ethnic and religious sources), lived experience, and (possibly) […]

Cause #42 Next Generation “Issues”

Observations Next generation “issues” are a common cause of conflict in Family Business. We’re talking here about macro, contextual causes. Lots of other micro causes are covered in other chapters – specifically around personality differences and succession scenarios. A Family Business is defined as any business that substantially involves at least 2 family members as […]

Cause #41 Buying & Selling Interests in The Business

Observations Another common cause of conflict in Family Business gains oxygen when family members are, or feel they are locked into ownership of the family’s business interests – notwithstanding their wish to not be involved. This uncertain feeling develops into conflict when it begets an uncomfortable sense of: “obligation to do stuff” – either in […]

Cause #40 Ownership vs Stewardship

Observations Ownership attitudes are grounded in a self-centred sense of: “here, now, and mine”. They encourage individuals to consider the family business as theirs to do with as they see fit, irrespective of whether they built or inherited it, in whole or in part. This attitude may be entirely rational and justifiable, but in pure […]

Cause #39 Sibling Rivalry

Observations Sibling rivalry involves any form of competition between siblings. It can range from good-natured tussling to all-out aggressive/destructive behaviour. Its roots lie in competition between young siblings – for things, recognition and parental attention – and can start when a baby is introduced into a family, and causes older sibling(s) to fear they’ll be supplanted in their parents’ affections. […]

Cause #38 For Lack of a Loving Reality Check…

Observations A common cause of conflict in Business Families has roots that date back to childhood, studenthood (not quite a word, but you get my point), business family ethos, and youthful career planning / decisions. Family members grow increasingly frustrated with themselves, with their role in the family business, and with their lot in life […]

Cause #37 Policies & Procedures

Observations If a Family Business is a more complicated beast to manage than an “ordinary” business, it follows that the Business Families that stand (by definition) behind each and every Family Business, are also more difficult to manage than “ordinary” families. Policies document things that must be done within an organisation, or entity. Procedures describe […]

Cause #36 Financial Security

Observations Desire for personal financial security becomes more urgent and powerful as business owners age, consider their options, alter their priorities, and recognise their reduced capacity to adapt to changes in circumstances – especially when that change relates to an increasing inability to overcome serious financial challenges. Fear is a primal motivator that stimulates “fight […]

Cause #35 Family Discipline in Business Families

Observations Family Discipline, or more accurately the lack of it, is a common cause of family business conflict. The concept of discipline is often ignored by mature business families, who tend to think of it as only applying to children, as children, but when there’s a family business in the mix, it’s perilous to ignore […]

Cause #34 Dysfunctional Business Families

Family dysfunction is a common cause of conflict in business families. Family Dysfunction (clinical definition): a family is dysfunctional when conflict and/or serious misbehaviours occur regularly and are accepted as the family’s behavioural norm. Business Family Dysfunction (family business definition): a business family is dysfunctional when its fundamental inability or unwillingness to solve problems and […]

Cause #33 Business Family Succession

Observations If Family Business Succession is “The Big One” – being the most common cause of conflict in family business – Business Family Succession runs a close second, in business families. Businesses “enjoy” having legions of advisers at the ready with reams of rational, objective, precedent-based, best practice advice. The consequences of their success or […]

Cause #32 Family Business Succession & Continuity

Observations This is the Big One! Succession, being the process of replacing one generation of owners, leaders and/or managers with another (usually younger) group is, in my experience, far and away the most common cause of Family Business conflict. For the many family business owners, and business family leaders, whose whole sense of identity is […]

Cause #31 Decision-Making Processes

Observations Many family business groups, from small to large, young and old, don’t have an agreed, coherent process for problem-solving or decision-making. Given that family and business life is a constant progression of issues, challenges, and problems that need to be resolved by wise decisions, it’s inevitable that the absence of good processes is a […]

Cause #30 Implementing Change in Business and Family

It’s one of the more curious features of human nature: many people will put up with known pain, rather than risk something worse by changing their circumstances. The condition even owns its own phobia: metathesiophobia, from the Greek: “meta” = change and “phobos” = fear. Fear of change, and problems implementing change, are common causes […]

Cause #29 Rules of Engagement

Observations Most Family Businesses are private business. This gives owner/leaders the legal and practical ability to do virtually whatever they like with the business, since they only have themselves to answer to. Or do they? Similarly, family leaders (Patriarchs and Matriarchs) can wield their authority over “junior” family members in ways that would make Genghis […]

Cause #28 Unrealistic Expectations & Entitlements

Observations Family Business can be a source of great pride to a family however, pride can get out of control – encouraging family members to create unjustified and unrealistic expectations of benefits they “should” receive from the business, including: cars, phones, travel and entertainment expenses, and credit cards for personal use. Whether caused by unthinking […]

Cause #27 Employing Family Members

Most first generation family businesses are private businesses. Their leaders are also their owners. This gives them the ability to do (almost) whatever they like within the business, since said leaders are only accountable to themselves, as owners. When there’s shared ownership, in any generation, things get more complicated, because business leaders are accountable to […]

Cause #21 Nature vs Nurture – Parents as Bosses

Observations The debate about whether Nature (genetics: innate qualities you were born with), or Nurture (environmental conditioning: learned behaviours and abilities), has the greatest influence on personality development, is one of the oldest in psychology, dating back to the ancient Greeks. It may even predate the invention of Souvlaki! Current thinking is that it’s not […]

Cause #20 Family Systems & Skills (5): Teamwork

Observations Strong and harmonious family teams are good indicators of a healthy business family culture. The absence of good teamwork in a family is a common cause of conflict when family members are involved in a family business. Most families want to believe that their “familyness” means that family members naturally work well together as […]

Cause #19 Family Systems & Skills (4): Respect & Trust

Observations Healthy levels of mutual respect and trust are key indicators of a good family business culture. Their absence is a common cause of conflict. “Trust” is a combination of thoughts and feelings that give confidence you can rely on the character, ability, strength, or integrity of someone, or something, to meet your expectation that […]

Cause #18 Family Systems & Skills (3): Decision Making

Observations Cause #17: Problem-Solving – described how and why poor problem-solving systems and skills are a common cause of conflict in family business, and in business families. Problem-solving is the front end, mechanical part of a process. For a problem to be solved, there needs to be a decision (agreement about what will be done), […]

Cause #17 Family Systems & Skills (2): Problem Solving

Observations When left to fester: issues become problems; problems become tensions, and tensions become conflicts. Inadequate attention to issues, as a result of inadequate problem-solving systems and skills, are a common cause of conflict in family businesses and in the business families that lie behind them. Families may be: (a) inclusively engaged as collaborative problem-solvers; […]

Cause #16 Family Systems & Skills (1): Communication

Observations Communication is both a key builder, and an ultimate destroyer, of relationships. Communication is the process of sending and receiving messages, between two or more people. Its quantitative, tangible elements (words used) convey information. Its qualitative, non-verbal elements (tone, gestures, choice of word) convey how a person feels about another. In any given situation, […]

Cause #15 Emotional Baggage (not given as a medical opinion)

Observations “Emotional Baggage” refers to unresolved emotional issues that have a detrimental effect on individuals, groups, or organisations. The baggage metaphor suggests carrying around past disappointments, wrongs, and trauma that hold current relationships hostage to negative expectations – based on experiences of long ago. In Article #14: “Parenting Styles” – I observed that the root cause […]

Cause #14 Parenting Styles & Practices

Observations (not given as medical opinions) Many of the root causes of current family business conflicts can be sheeted back to the parenting styles and practices – behaviours and emotional contexts – of the family’s home life, from many years ago. Whether or not there’s any validity to the analysis, in dispute resolution practice it’s […]

Cause #13 Broken Wing Syndrome #3 (Family Business)

Observations Article 11: “Broken Wing Syndrome #1 (Individuals)”, described Emotional Resilience as a person’s ability to cope with, and adapt to, challenging situations. Resilient individuals minimise their anxiety, consciously and unconsciously, to remain personally, socially and vocationally effective. A non-resilient individual is less able to handle challenges and stress, hence their “broken wing”. They require […]

Cause #12 Broken Wing Syndrome #2 (Parents & Family)

Observations Article #11: “Broken Wing Syndrome #1 (Individuals)”, posited that Emotional Resilience is the personal ability to cope with, and adapt to, challenging situations. Hence resilient individuals, both consciously and unconsciously, tend to minimise their anxiety to remain personally, socially and vocationally effective. Broken Wing Syndrome (“BWS”) refers to non-resilient individuals, and specifically to those […]

Cause #11 Broken Wing Syndrome #1 (Individuals)

Observations Excessive protection, and inappropriate amounts of support provided by parents to offspring working in a family business, are common causes of conflict within business families. Emotional Resilience is the personal ability to cope with, and adapt to, challenging situations. Resilient people, consciously and unconsciously, minimise their anxiety levels to remain personally, socially and vocationally […]

Cause #10 Behavioural Discord

Families are always “interesting”, due to dynamic interplays between the diverse personalities that make up the group – as manifested by their behaviours towards each other. Every family develops a unique behavioural style, which evolves as its members age and mature. Resilient families learn to tolerate and accommodate disruptive individual styles; others never learn how […]

Cause #9 Relationship Interplays

Family Business can have a “force multiplier” effect on family relationships, especially when interpersonal relationship issues present in the family, often built over many years of family interactions, are projected or absorbed into the business. Commercial environments provide all the nutrients required to turn historical/personal/domestic niggles into full-blown, competitive, adult conflicts. Weak, strong and/or distorted […]

Cause #8 Divorce & Separation

Australia 2019: 113,815 marriages registered; 49,116 divorces granted. We’re marrying later (32 for males, 30 for females), and more couples are living together for several years before marrying. Consequently, marriages are generally lasting longer, and divorce rates are trending downwards from their peak in the 1970s and 1980s (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2019). The bottom line […]

Cause #7 For want of a Family Plan …

“For want of a nail the shoe was lost, For want of a shoe the horse was lost, For want of a horse the rider was lost, For want of a rider the message was lost, For want of a message the battle was lost, For defeat in battle the kingdom was lost, And all […]

Cause #7 Equal ain’t Equitable

One of the most common causes of family business conflict arises from (innocently) confusing equality (providing equal benefits), with equity (providing fair treatment). On careful analysis, this almost always indicates avoidance of responsibility to exercise discretion towards family members in widely different circumstances, even where most outsiders, and most family members, would think it perfectly […]

Cause #6 In-Laws, Outlaws & Blended Families

All forms of matrimonial relationship can create conflicts for business families – with increasingly complicated family structures resulting in a bewildering variety of happy, working, blended, extended, dysfunctional and broken family units forming parts of larger family groups. Higher general and business education levels; social pressures demanding greater equality, inclusiveness, and communication transparency; broadening perceptions […]

Cause #5 Fossilised Leaders

“Fossilisation” is the process of rusting in place in a business leadership role, by becoming more averse to change and innovation. It’s usually caused by age. We are living longer, working longer and, despite having to deal with a global pandemic, we expect to do far more in our lives than ever before. This encourages […]

Cause #4 Managing Unmet Expectations and Broken Promises in Family Businesses

When people feel betrayed, or unfairly treated, by people they believed they could trust – frustration, resentment, anger, and a strong desire for revenge, are common consequences. Conflicts brew, and eventually spill over. Despite the fond wish to believe that every family business is a haven of peace, integrity and high trust, the reality is […]

Cause #3 Human Diversity – Ages & Stages

We don’t pay enough attention to the effect of different ages and stages on people’s thinking and behaviours. This raises real issues when family members working together in a family business are at different ages and stages in their respective lives. We see this most powerfully when two or more generations of a family are […]

Cause #2 Managing Personality Differences in Family Business Conflicts

Personality differences have huge impacts on the nature and quality of interactions between family members – in and out of a family business – and between family members and family business employees. “Character” is how the world sees you, and how you see yourself – as a stable, accumulated collection of traits and qualities that […]

Cause #1 Family Business – Blessing, or Curse?

Oh, the drama! The very word “Family” engages us all, at a visceral level. Whether it’s a light, dark, hot, cold, happy, sad, loved or lonely response, “family” always stirs some sort of emotional response. The words “Family Business” engage us in several additional dimensions: emotional, intellectual, professional and financial. And from the outside they […]

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