What my son taught me about judgment (in 2 seconds)
Read time: 2 minutes
Welcome to issue #056 of Unicorn Parents. Each week, I share practical insights and reflections to help you build a profitable business without missing the magic at home. If you’re serious about winning at work while raising great kids, you’ve come to the right place. This is a community built for ambitious parents who want both.
“Daddy… what happens if Mount Fuji erupts?”
My son’s eyes were wide.
Not curiosity. Concern.
A few seconds earlier, he had asked:
“Daddy, where are volcanoes?”
I gave him the quick answers:
Hawaii. Japan. A few other places.
Then came the real question.
And in that moment, I had a choice.
Make something up.
Say “I don’t know” and grab my phone.
Or pause… and decide what kind of father I wanted to be in that moment.
What ran through my head next happened in maybe 1–2 seconds:
I don’t want him to see me always looking at my phone
Maybe we can explore this together
But he’s 4… is that too abstract?
Should I just give him a simple answer?
Should I come back later with something better?
I chose this:
I told him what I did know.
Kept it simple.
And admitted that I didn’t know everything.
Then later, on my own time, I looked it up.
That moment stayed with me.
Because it wasn’t about volcanoes.
It was about judgment: how you decide in the moment.
We like to think judgment is something dramatic.
Big decisions. Big stakes.
It’s not.
It’s this:
Tiny moments.
Fast decisions.
Repeated thousands of times.
At work:
Who do you hire?
What do you prioritize?
When do you say no?
At home:
Do you pick up your phone?
Do you rush the answer?
Do you sit with your child in the question?
Most people think judgment is innate.
It’s not.
It’s trained.
But you don’t train judgment by reading about it.
And you don’t build it by just taking action either.
It’s both.
Thought and action.
Forward… then back.
Decision… then reflection.
Again and again.
That’s the hard part.
Because it’s slower than pure action.
And messier than pure thinking.
In a world that rewards speed,
this feels frustrating.
Which is why it’s rare.
And why it matters.
Because this (more than intelligence, more than experience)
is what separates people who move (too) fast
from people who move well.
At work.
At home.
As parents.
As operators.
Judgment isn’t a trait.
It’s a practice.
We already know that good parenting isn’t about always having the right answer.
It’s about:
modeling how to think
modeling how to respond under uncertainty
modeling humility when you don’t know
My son didn’t need a perfect explanation of volcanic eruptions.
He needed to see:
A father who wasn’t panicked.
A father who didn’t pretend.
A father who was present.
That’s judgment.
Not perfection.
Presence.
And if I’m honest…
I’ve made far worse decisions in boardrooms
with far more data
and far more time.
Parenting exposes us.
It reveals our defaults.
Our habits.
Our unconscious reactions.
So here’s what I’m learning (and sharing):
If you want better judgment in business…
start paying attention at home.
Because the reps are everywhere.
Questions to Ponder…
What “small” moment this week
required real judgment?
Most people miss them.
The best don’t.
Feel free to share it. I read every one.