The Biggest Job Goes On-Line

Me to My Daughters: “Sometimes I feel as though I’ve got one foot in the analog world and the other in the digital world.”
My Daughters: “Uhm, Dad, you’ve got both feet in the analog world.”

Ouch! Nonetheless… I push on!

As I move toward wrapping up the employment phase of my Hyde life… (I digress: Exactly how many phases are there?)… I find myself focused on developing a project where we are digitizing Hyde’s Biggest Job parenting program.

What began nearly 30 years ago with a parent workshop in Danville, CA… continued with a book in 2002…

… which was followed by a Mandarin translation and a promo tour in China in 2018…

… will now evolve into an on-line offering where participants — be they Hyde parents or random moms and dads from Boise, Duluth, or Little Rock — will have access to readings, videos, and exercises at the click of a button.

The 10 Priorities of The Biggest Job will form the heart of the program. When a parent clicks on, say, Truth over Harmony, they will be greeted with a brief (5-6 minutes) talking head overview video which will be followed by a more conversational video of parents talking about their experiences with Truth over Harmony. These videos will be accompanied by selected readings, 3-5 exercises per Priority, journalling questions, and suggested family mantras pertaining to the given Priority. In addition to the on-line course, subscribing parents will have access to monthly parenting webinars delivered by Biggest Job teachers and national parenting experts. Physical workshops and conferences are also planned.

When will this be available? We are looking at an early 2026 delivery. Having completed all the written portions of the program — readings, exercises, mantras, journalling — we are now immersed in the filming part of the project. (And speaking of global, the design team with whch we have contracted hails from San Diego and Portugal which makes for creative scheduling of Zoom conferences!) The cost of the program is still being determined but will likely fall into the >$50/<$100 range.

Hyde parents will benefit from this program both directly and immediately. Given the increasingly global composition of our enrollment, parents from all over the world will be able to participate in a common program together. It will simplify “home work” leading up to and following family weekends. Furthermore, the on-line access feature is simply consistent with the expectations of our post-pandemic world. It is also consistent with the way their children are already engaging with peers and faculty thanks to the Discovery Process.

As for non-Hyde parents, perhaps a story fits here…

Twenty-five years have passed since Laura and I decided to write the Biggest Job book. Knowing next to nothing about the publishing world, we were fortunate to be introduced to a prominent publishing agent who invited us to meet at her Manhattan office.  She began by disarming us with an all-too-obvious question: “Why do you want to write a book about parenting?”

After a few fumbled responses, she cut us off and said, “The world’s largest Barnes and Nobles is right across the street. (We were on lower Broadway.) So, let’s put this meeting on pause… You enter that store… go to the parenting section… spend as much time as you need… then come back here and tell me how your book is going to be unique and hopefully better than the hundreds of parenting books one can purchase in that Barnes & Nobles.”

While leafing through the books there, our initial emotion was one of intimidation as we realized that there were some excellent options available there!  At the same time, we also began to realize that most of those books were focused on behavior management: How can I get my kid to act the way I would like them to act? Before long, it dawned on us that our motivation, our vision, our premise was different: If you want to be a better parent, first focus on being a better person.  

So, we went back across the street, resumed the meeting, and shared this premise with the agent. She replied, “We can work with that.” When we left her office, she was our new agent.

Twenty-five years later, we stand behind this premise. Perhaps the greatest legacy we can leave our children is to model the notion that we are all works in progress. Any parent can do that. (And soon, any parent will have access to some on-line assistance.)

Onward, Malcolm Gauld