I spent fifteen years working in the quality assurance department of an auto parts factory and have a certificate showing that 30 years ago I was certified as a quality engineer. There are a few simple lessons I learned during that time that I believe apply as much to little people in the home as they do to big people in a factory.

80% of quality problems are the responsibility of management.
In the home that means the parents. So when a child’s behaviour does not measure up to our expectations, our first reaction should be to ask ourselves:

Have we given them the tools to do what we asked them to do?
This does not mean the right wrench or micrometer. It means have I done all that is needed to explain what I expect of them and how to do it? That involves more than just telling them to do something. In the plant where I worked, the engineering manager had a poster in his office which said:

TELL ME — I’LL FORGET
SHOW ME — I’LL REMEMBER
WORK WITH ME — I’LL UNDERSTAND