Feiler generally has good advice for unorganized and stressed-out parents here. He attempts to import organizational practices and apply them to families: holding "family meetings" (aka board room meetings), coming up with a family mission statement, being "agile," etc.

I agree with Feiler that many families seem to live day-to-day, putting out fires as they come. I feel this way sometimes with my family, too (which is why I picked up the book!), and to such families, this book is good for laying the foundation for getting organized.

Still, although I appreciate Feiler's push for families to organize themselves better toward a specific goal, I'm a little put off by the idea that families should be run like corporations, especially when it comes to brainstorming a mission statement with your kids. Implicit in this practice is the assumption that no one really knows why families exist, so you should just come up with your own telos. A family's got to mean more than what we can come up with if it's going to be truly meaningful.