The intertwined system of a family running a business has its own set of complexities. A family system is emotion based, with a focus on establishing and maintaining relationships. In a family system, there is a lot of subconscious behaviour – there is openness, trust and loyalty between family members as well as opportunities for jealousies to arise, rivalries to occur. Finally, a family system is inward looking and seeks to minimize change, while maintaining the values and traditions of previous generations.

On the other hand, a business system is task based, constantly focusing only on results to the exclusion of everything else. A business system focuses on the conscious behaviour and puts in place policies, structures and systems for every action. The business system is primarily outward looking, seeking to exploit change as needed for growth and perpetuity of the business.

When these dual systems are in constant interaction with each other due to the nature of the family business, there arises friction. In order to manage this conflict, one must learn to run the family like a business and the business like a family.