Dr Frederik G. PferdtFrom Stanford & Google — To You

Are you a snowplow parent? | Amy Edmondson

20 Oct 2026 · 2 min

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1:40

In this talk, Amy Edmondson warns against two overprotective parenting (and leadership) styles—"snowplow" parenting, which clears obstacles and prepares a smooth path so children never experience failure, and "helicopter" parenting, which involves micromanaging and constantly intervening. She argues that both approaches deprive children (or employees) of the essential learning that comes from stumbling, failing, and figuring things out on their own. Edmondson emphasizes the need to step back, allowing young people to encounter challenges, and to model a cheerful, open attitude toward being wrong by sharing personal stories of failure as well as success. This fosters resilience, adaptability, and the capacity to handle uncertainty.

Chapters

This is not a catastrophe. This is data. And you then, I think, increase the chances that you prevent a catastrophe. So for children, you know, for kids, for the next generation, whether they're your employees or your children, what you have to resist doing is, you know, either helicoptering or snowplowing, right? Snowplowing referring to kind of preparing the land ahead of them, the path ahead of them so carefully they don't even know they're not doing it themselves. And then taking away that opportunity for them to stumble and fall and learn and grow. And that's a terrible thing to take away. Or helicoptering, which is kind of micromanaging. And I, as a parent myself, I remember, I know well that instinct to try it. You don't want your children to suffer from the discomfort of failing, getting something wrong. So you're sort of tempted to get out ahead of that. And you have to back away and realize that part of their life, You know, part of their training, part of their ability to become good, capable human beings is experiencing trial and failure learning on their own. Otherwise, they'll become so brittle that they won't be able to do anything really of note well. So you have to kind of step back and you have to role model that cheerful attitude about being wrong in new territory. You know, trying something, you know, telling, sharing the stories where you failed, not just the stories where you succeeded.