Leadership is Language: Binary Parenting Questions
These are notes from L. David Marquet’s book: Leadership is Language. The first set of notes start at understanding Red & Blue.
From the last post, all of those questions I asked had binary answers:
Question | Acceptable Response |
---|---|
Are you ready for school? | Yes/No |
Did you wash your hands? | Yes/No |
Was school fun? | Yes/No |
Did you see person at school? | Yes/No |
Did you play at school? | Yes/No |
Did the teacher give you homework? | Yes/No |
Are you ready for bed? | Yes/No |
If my child did not want to “get in trouble” - most of the time, they would answer “yes”.
If they answer “yes”, but they really lied or I knew better, then I would start digging deeper into it. Eventually, I would “catch them” in the lie and he would have to rebuild trust with me.
I share the problem with binary questions.