There is No Short Cut.

"There is really no short cut." - I often hear people say. 

Usually, they refer to work. There are of course camps of people who advocate "working smarter". However, at the end of the day, there is no substitute for time and effort. It's not just time, and it's not just effort, but rather a combination of laser-sharp focus over an extended period of time with enormous effort. 

When it comes to raising kids, "there is really no short cut" but continuous effort with a focus on shifting strategy and tactics at the first sign of trouble. That's true for all kids. In fact, in the case of raising kids, what applies to work applies here even more. As Clayton Christensen mentioned in his latest book, if we say that kids/family are most important to us, it should take the most time and effort from us by comparison to other endeavors. If not, it is no wonder things may go wrong. 

A life science venture capitalist has decided to quit from her firm to focus on her son with autism, as she found out that nothing short of focused effort would be good enough. A team of nannies, therapists, and tutors will not substitute, just as a company can't run without constant/real leadership at the top. True – with competent people in designated tasks, it will go on for a while. But sooner or later, problems will arise in this vacuum of leadership, and troubles will multiply exponentially even at an initially healthy company. 

The analogy can be made of taking care of a kid. Even if it's a perfectly fine model kid, "cruising along" would likely result in problems that accumulate to the point of exploding in unimaginable dimensions one day. It might seem sudden, but in actuality, no problem emerges overnight. They all accumulate and grow quietly until they become deafening one day. Therefore, if there is no continuous effort to nip everything in the bud, as a leader should do in directing the efforts of people around, it's just a matter of time before things disintegrate. 

If it's a kid with issues, it's even more imperative for parents to guide strategy, change direction, address crises, manage efforts and correct mistakes, even with access to a team of specialists  and helpers around. The specialists and helpers are there to follow and execute, but they must have someone to follow, who assumes the ultimate responsibility. And lastly, people are only willing to follow people who are in the trenches together working day and night, as opposed to those who just show up for the pictures.