The agile family philosophy accepts and embraces the ever-changing nature of family life. It anticipates that even the best-designed system will need to be re-engineered half-way.

Parents often think they have to create a few overarching rules and stick to them. This philosophy presumes we can anticipate every problem that will arise and always parent in the same way. We can't.

One of the instincts we have as parents is to try and fix everything. However, members of effective teams spend as much time talking to one another as to the leader and speak in equal measure.

In the family meeting, the kids are allowed to say whatever they want and express their frustrat...