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Dean R. Fowler, Ph.D. ♦ 262-271-5979 ♦ dean@deanfowler.com

Fortune Cookie Wisdom
Invest in Your Family

[To read additional articles including past issues of our newsletter click here.]

Last week after their Board of Directors meeting, I had lunch with my family clients at a well-known Chinese Restaurant in town. As is the custom, we each opened our fortune cookie at the conclusion of our meal. The senior shareholder read his fortune with a chuckle:

“Don’t trust the stock market. Invest in your family.”

And then he said, “Looks like we are doing the right things. . . investing in our family by formalizing our Board, holding regular educational sessions with the next generation, and making a commitment to communication through our Family Council.”

Almost fifteen years ago, I completed an international research project focusing on the best practices for families in business. Our research was published by the Family Firm Institute and provided the foundational principles for Four Pathways to success:

  1. Transforming Family Dynamics
  2. Developing the Next Generation
  3. Establishing the Strategy and Structure for the Family Enterprise
  4. Developing an Effective Transition Plan
Our research findings have been reaffirmed by a study published in 2012 by FBN – Family Business Network – an international association of family businesses, and FoX – The Family Office Exchange – a network of family office executives, private investors and advisors.

Based on our research, we measure the progress of a family in each of these four pathways by using our Comprehensive Family Roadmap™ process wherein each member of the extended family is able to give voice – confidentially – to his or her own perspective on each of these Four Pathways to Success.


Click here for the research conducted by Dean R. Fowler, Ph.D.
Click here for the research conducted by FBN and FoX.

The First Pathway – Transforming Family Dynamics
As the fortune cookie wisdom said: “Invest in your family.”

Drawing on our respective studies, the best practices for success for the First Pathway include a formal commitment to regular family meetings and gatherings to foster family openness, trust and communication.

Through our research we discovered three critical factors that pave the First Pathway to success. And based on my experience, investing in your family needs to be the starting point to make the journey to the other three pathways to success. The three critical factors in the First Pathway are:


  • Family Culture describes the quality of the interrelationships among your family members, in such areas as shared common values, trust, and respect. Effective communication skills, as well as the encouragement and support of individual family members, are cornerstones of family culture. A positive family culture should promote the understanding and acceptance of the diverse needs of each of the individuals within the family.
  • Career Satisfaction refers to an individual’s ability to live out of and express his or her own interests and talents in a meaningful way. In family businesses, young adults are often torn between their sense of loyalty to the family, opportunity for security and income through the business, and the competing needs of their own individual interests and talents, which may guide them in directions distinct from the opportunities provided in the family business. Career satisfaction is often linked with positive self-esteem.
  • Family Relationships deal with the need to balance the relationship between work and family, especially concerning appropriate boundaries between the business and the family, so that business roles and family roles can be differentiated. In particular positive family relationships are built on trust and respect of each other as individuals.
Coming Up in our Next eNewsletter:
The second Pathway to Success: Developing the Next Generation

Comprehensive Family Roadmaps
We offer three different Comprehensive Roadmaps for specific client needs. Click on the Roadmap below to download more detailed information: