The 3 Big Questions...

Back in November, a close friend of Dennis' gave him Patrick Lencioni's new book, The Three Big Questions of the Frantic Family. Although his books are generally on organizational management and teamwork in the workplace (The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, The Three Signs of a Miserable Job to name a few), this one focuses on what Lencioni calls "the most important organization in society: the family."

His trademark writing style is no different in the 3 questions book. An entertaining fable gets his point across, then a few final chapters concentrate on the principles of the fable, making it very practical and applicable to life.

Since we had a long drive to and from PA/NJ for Thanksgiving, we decided to make this book our reading material for the trip. Several years ago we discovered how fun it is to read out loud while traveling (carsickness is a thing of the past for me), giving us both the opportunity to enjoy a book and discuss it together. Lencioni's simple, yet engaging chapters kept us turning the pages. We found ourselves laughing out loud at his realistic characters who live life pretty much the way we do.

This book was a timely gift. Not that I would call our family frantic, but as an empty-nest couple having experienced family and ministry transitions over the past several years, this book helped us to get re-focused. I think it's a good book for anybody, family or not, married or not. The questions can be formatted to your situation.

The 3 Big Questions:

• What makes your family unique?

• What is your family's top priority – your rallying cry – right now?

• How do you talk about and use the answers to these questions?

We had plenty of time on our trip to process the questions, come to some good conclusions and sort through steps that would help us generate momentum towards our rallying cry. My next several entries will flesh out the 3 questions, along with our personal application to each one.