Involving My Kid in My Work – A “Collaboration Across the Ages” FAQ

-llI’m excited to announce that my new series, Collaboration Across the Ages, is live.? It’s the first time I’ve involved my son (11 years old) in my work, and the first time I’ve intentionally allowed his face and name on social media.? I’m excited about the series – he’s a person I love, it’s a topic I love, and I feel like the comic-book-style format really works for the two of us.? So I’m interrupting my monthly article format to offer this video intro, and an FAQ-style compilation of questions about why I did this, how it went, why I made it available exclusively to our newsletter subscribers, and what weighs most heavily on my mind about putting my kid on the internet. Enjoy!

How did Collaboration Across the Ages come about?

I swear I’m not making this up: We had the idea in a coffee shop. After finishing breakfast, I was trying to keep him happy so I could enjoy the rest of my coffee in peace, so we moved to pair of high-backed, comfortable chairs flanking a low table. That led to some joking around about how it looked like we were on a talk show, which led to the seed idea for the series. We started brainstorming ideas for episodes right then. It was summer break, so the window for the video shoot was easy to find; within a couple weeks we’d scheduled the shoot and built an early list of topics.

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What was it like collaborating with your 11-year-old on a work project?

Surprisingly enjoyable. It helped that he liked the idea and that we’ve had a long running joke that our weekday breakfasts together resemble a talk show.? (It’s called “Raisin Toast from Coast to Coast” and covers a variety of topics, including a disproportionate amount of time debating the pros and cons of my screen time policy.)? Anyway, I tried to practice good group work skills – I was clear up front about my role as the final decider, I tried to be specific about where his input and creativity would be most helpful, and we worked together to define the role he could choose around production feedback. ?He was engaged and made real contributions, it was a lot of fun, and I’ll definitely do it again.

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Is this really your first time putting him on social media?

Yes, except for a private unpublished group with a tightly controlled membership. My public feeds have only ever displayed the back of his head, and I’ve never used his name. Other people have, of course – it’s the world we live in – but I always felt like until he could consent in some form, it didn’t feel right to me.

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Would you say he consented to this internet appearance?

Inasmuch as an 11-year-old boy can, yes. He was excited about the idea from the start, and the deeper we got in the process, the more interesting the whole thing became to both of us. I’m not na?ve; it’s not like his name or picture were totally undiscoverable before we did this.?Sooner or later he’ll be on social media anyway, so I figured this was as good a time as any to make an intentional start. But it was not without some bellyaching on my part.

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What would you say to someone who accused you of using your kid to garner attention for your business?

I’d say, “ugh, I hate it when people in my space do that, and I deeply hope you’re not right.”? I’m not thrilled with the “thought leader” universe in general, and I particularly hate to see alleged experts commoditize their families for likes and shares. It feels gross and makes my skin crawl, which just means it’s outside my values.? Not everyone will agree with me on this, and that's fine, but to my ex-engineer way of thinking, if your ideas and results don’t garner attention on their own, that should be the end of it.?

In this case, I’m in a position where my kiddo and I came up with something together. It has potential value to end viewers, he’ll learn from it, he and I get to collaborate in a new way, and I get to learn from him too. All of those are well-matched to my values, but the whole thing only works if someone besides us sees it. So it needs to be publicized. I guess I feel like I’m using my business to garner attention for the series, as opposed to the opposite.

Am I rationalizing? I don’t think so. I thought long and hard about whether to do it at all, and if so, how. But I can see how someone might conclude that I am.

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Is that why it’s only available to newsletter subscribers?

Maybe that limitation brings me comfort psychologically, but it’s not like we’re talking about a tiny group of close friends.? Our newsletter has many thousands of subscribers and grows every year.? What’s more important to me on that front is that I offer something of interest and of value for those that join – something they can’t just get from our social feeds, website, open video collection, etc.? I had been on the hunt for something new in that space for 2024, and this series seemed like a natural fit.

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What kinds of topics do the two of you cover in the series?

The debut episode, which we did release openly, is about how sometimes, in groups, the person who talks the most gets the most traction – and that’s not ideal. We also shot episodes about Groupthink, making good agreements, and being forward-looking, among other things. I was honestly surprised at how well the format worked for the first batch of topics, and how articulate he was on fairly nuanced subjects with barely any prompting. Don’t tell anyone, but the only episode I scrapped was one where he was perfectly clear and coherent. The problem was that I wasn’t!

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Is it scripted?

Only the intro, which is what you see in the trailer above. It was shot with a teleprompter and a single camera. (Well, actually the two of us were shot separately and then edited together – it was pretty cool!) The discussions themselves were typical 3-camera interview shoots, with no prompters and no scripts. We talked for a bit in advance about what shape the topic would take, and wrote down a few bullet points, but the actual conversations happened organically and sometimes went pretty far afield of the early notes. Here's how the set looks once the intro is over:

How do I get access to the episodes?

If you’re a member of our newsletter, you’ll start to see it included as part of our regular rotation of videos.? If not, I hope you’ll subscribe – for this series, and for everything else we offer in the monthly blast.? We get a lot of positive feedback on our content, we won’t share your info with anyone else, and we send just one email per month, always with an unsubscribe option. It’s been that way since 2006. I promise we won’t start Spamming you, and you won’t suddenly start getting ads for management consulting on your refrigerator flat screen.?Or if you do, they won't be from me.

Awkwardly enough, if you’re a new subscriber (or if you subscribe with a new email address), you’ll get a welcome email immediately with a link to the first episode. If you’re an existing member, you’ll have to wait for the next regular mailing.? That's a little weird, I know, but it’s just how the platform works.

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What’s next for this collaboration?

Who knows! We certainly have lots of time together to brainstorm ideas. And he seems to have an interest in the business, at the moment anyway. I’m not of a mindset that he is “supposed to carry on the family work” if he doesn’t want to, but I'm certainly happy to share that part of my life with him. I suspect there’s more to come, and that we’ll, ahem, Iterate to some future steps as we go.

I hope you decide to subscribe, and I hope you enjoy our silly and clever series!