I learned about the idea of “concerted cultivation“.   I was in a meeting with my client and my client sponsor, that’s the person who authorizes my contract, shared the concept from the book, Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell.  He talked about in the context of poor children and middle-class children.  The concept is best understood in terms of “natural growth” where poor families tend to say, “ya’ll educate my child”.  By contrast, “concerted cultivation” is about active participation with one’s child.

When a family is poor or faces financial hardship, you can imagine the pressures of the parents to organize structured social events or activities that feed the spirit and early development.  By contrast, more affluent families tend to think constantly about how to improve their child’s experience.  It’s interesting, but I see very vivid examples around me, that are startling with so-called affluent parents.  Here’s what I mean: parent makes lot of money, they outsource the care to a nanny.  Or, they travel so much that there is no relationship and thus disconnected.  Also, parents get so caught up in materialism that their way of showing appreciation is to outsource childcare through a Wii or MTV, BET or the Disney Channel.  There is some fascinating literature on this concept, so you be the judge.  Oh, and remember, too much of a good thing can be bad.  Until tomorrow…when I share something new I learned.