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Quality Parenting

As a project management professional instructor, I found myself reviewing the index for my courseware and pondering the difference between quality control and quality assurance. Our book The Values-Driven Family had detailed how project management principles meshed almost perfectly with the dynamics of parenting. However, very little emphasis was given to the concept of quality. (We hit on this point in our recent interview on “The Harvest Show.” You can view it at http://www.harvest-tv.com/video/VOD_GetShow.cfm?ShowID=89.)

Quality control is best described as inspecting the final product (deliverable) for problems. If there are defects, you implement corrective action. Quality assurance, on the other hand, is making sure that your production process is of sufficient quality standards so that the product is consistent. You see, one is pre-production (proactive) and one is post-production (reactive).

In the home, we have the same dynamics. We oftentimes find ourselves focused on the deliverable (our children’s behaviors) and addressing defects with corrective action. We become increasingly frustrated because whenever we correct one defect, two more emerge. In this way, we rarely achieve a quality product. Likewise, we find ourselves parading around the house with a switch in our hand or persistently nagging. If we, in turn, would simply address the process through quality assurance, we would have much greater odds at achieving a consistently high quality product.

In the home, the production process is really all about the parents. Most parenting books focus on the child. This is a big mistake, since the entire parenting process is parent-driven. If we would simply focus on our attitudes and behaviors, being consistent with our training, encouragement, and discipline, we would see encouraging trends. Therein lay the peace and joy that so easily become lost in the grind of reactive parenting.

So I urge you to take an introspective look at your personal quality methods. Are you in a quality assurance or a quality control mode? I encourage you to take a good look at your actions and words and see what you can personally do to facilitate a healthier atmosphere in your home. We have, and everyone in the home is better for it.

Marc Carrier
Author of The Values-Driven Family
http://www.valuesdrivenfamily.com

Labels: biblical parenting

posted by Marc Carrier @ 12:01 PM