09-05-2025
How to Raise Super-Achievers? Hint: It's Not the Cereal.
THE FAMILY DYNAMIC: A Journey Into the Mystery of Sibling Success, by Susan Dominus
Once, when I was giving a lecture on health policy, I'd thoughtlessly failed to turn my phone off, and unexpectedly it rang. 'It's my brother,' I said.
Someone called out, 'Answer it, it's the White House!'
'No,' I said, 'it's the other brother — the successful one.'
Afterward, a crowd gathered to ask questions, but they weren't interested in the substance of my talk. Instead, most asked some version of, 'What did your mom put in the breakfast cereal?'
I often get that question from anxious new parents wanting to know how they can raise their children to be 'successful.' Susan Dominus had that question, too. Finding no book on the subject, she set out to elucidate the commonalities among families that had 'more than one high-achieving child.' The result is her wonderfully engaging new work, 'The Family Dynamic.'
