Collaboration

Cause #34

In this episode, I explore why collaboration and teamwork — two concepts that seem obvious in theory — so often collapse inside business families. I explain how informal, relationship‑based ways of working break down as the business grows, and how the clash between the family’s emotional system and the business’s performance system creates chaos, decision paralysis, role confusion, and low‑trust cultures. I also unpack the deeper drivers of conflict: inherited temperament, family‑of‑origin dynamics, unresolved emotional baggage, childhood roles carried into adulthood, and the tension between romantic “families should just work” thinking and the realist need for structure and governance. Finally, I outline practical strategies to rebuild collaboration: turning “we before me” into a lived value, teaching teamwork early, building resilience through responsibility, normalising constructive disagreement, developing emotional intelligence, and involving children in family meetings sooner than most families expect — all with the goal of creating a family that not only loves each other, but loves working together.