Family Business As Paradox

A family business, by its very nature, is a contradiction. Successful, multi-generation family businesses have figured out how to manage these contradictions and in many cases turn them into a secret of their success.

The first step is to suspend judgment about contradictions and recognize that we have been brought up and educated to treat all problems the same, when not all problems are the same. Not all can be solved, and the remainder must be managed or coped with. In order to do this, we have to develop the capacity within ourselves and our organization to thrive on contradictions.

This book provides the common language, framework, tools and processes needed to learn to embrace, manage and, in some cases, synthesize contradictions in a family business. To be successful business leaders, we need to develop an appreciation for ambiguity, and we need to fundamentally shift how we think about and manage contradictions in the workplace.

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John L. Ward is Co-Founder and Principal of The Family Business Consulting Group, and Clinical Professor of Family Enterprises and Co-Director of the Center for Family Enterprises at Kellogg School of Management (USA). He is an active researcher, speaker and consultant on succession, ownership, governance, and family foundations, and is the author of leading books on family business. Ward currently serves on the boards of four companies in the US, Canada and Europe.
Amy Schuman is a Principal with The Family Business Consulting Group, working with family businesses to create conditions that support successful continuity across the generations. Schuman was the founding facilitator of the Next Generation Leadership Institute, an intensive, two-year program for next generation family business leaders at the Loyola University Chicago Family Business Center. She authored Nurturing the Talent to Nurture the Legacy: Career Development in the Family Business and co-authored, with John L. Ward, Family Education for Business Owning Families: Strengthening Bonds by Learning Together.
Stacy Stutz is a Chicago-based independent consultant with twenty years of diverse experience in consulting and management. She has consulted with privately held and public companies in industries ranging from financial services to consumer electronics. Her family history of entrepreneurship provided a foundation for her work with family enterprises to establish governance and management strategies to sustain them into future generations. Stutz is an engineer and graduate of the Kellogg School of Management.