Are you raising kids who can think for themselves?
Or are you accidentally teaching them to wait for the answer?
Most of us want to raise confident, resilient problem-solvers. But when our kids struggle, every instinct says: step in. Rescue them. Give them the answer.
That instinct — however loving — is getting in the way.
Choose, Fail, Grow is the book that shows you how real learning works — and how to stop accidentally stealing the discovery from the kids and learners in your life. Drawing on 35 years of engineering, 39 years of dog training, and a lifetime of hands-on tinkering, engineer and author Marsha Tufft reveals the surprising principles that build confident, capable, resilient problem-solvers at any age.
Start Building Problem-Solvers Today — Free
Sign up to receive my free Volcano Bundle — three complete hands-on STEM experiments your kids can do at home:
Dry Ice Volcano — introduces phase diagrams and sublimation
Vinegar and Baking Soda Volcano — explores acid-base reactions and experimental variables
Monster Toothpaste — demonstrates catalysis and exothermic reactions
Each experiment includes full instructions, safety tips, short videos, and the reflection questions that turn a fun activity into lasting learning.
Perfect for parents, teachers, homeschoolers, and troop leaders.
[Email capture form]
- First name
- Email address
- Button: Send Me the Experiments!
Plus: you’ll be among the first to know when Choose, Fail, Grow launches — and get early access to exclusive content.
Here's the uncomfortable truth
We’ll let our kids fail at a science experiment.
We’ll let them struggle with a math problem.
We’ll even — if we’re brave — let them make mistakes and learn from the results.
But when it comes to the choices that really matter? We go silent. Or we swoop in.
Choices about:
- Sex
- Drugs
- Money
- Relationships
- Career
- Self-worth
The child who never practices making hard choices in low-stakes situations enters adulthood unprepared for the high-stakes ones.
The good news? Problem-solving confidence is a skill. It’s learnable. It’s buildable. And it starts much earlier — and in more unexpected places — than most people realize.
Choose, Fail, Grow gives you the framework — and the permission.
How to Build Rapid Learning and Problem-Solving Skills Without Fear of Failure
Body:
This is not a parenting book that tells you to be more patient.
This is not a business book full of frameworks you’ll forget by Friday.
This is the book that bridges the gap between what we know about effective learning and what we actually do — drawing on behavioral science, engineering, dog training, and decades of real-world proof.
In five parts, you’ll discover:
✅ Choose — Why choices matter more than talent, and how a childhood full of tinkering builds the foundation for every hard decision that follows
✅ Fail — Why failure is the engine of learning — and how to create the conditions where real failure and real learning can happen
✅ Grow — A practical toolkit for building problem-solvers at every age, including the hard conversations most of us avoid
✅ Solve — Eight real-world case studies showing every principle in action, from training aprons to cardboard boats to jet engine maintenance models
✅ Thrive — Advanced strategies for lifelong learning: the Performance Equation, the Competency Model, visualization, and the power of switching gears
This book is for you if...
🐾 You’re a parent who wants to raise kids who can handle hard things — including the hard conversations about sex, drugs, money, and self-worth that most of us avoid until it’s almost too late
📚 You’re a teacher or homeschooler who understands why problem-solving matters but struggles to teach it in a 50-minute session
🍀 You’re a Girl Scout troop leader or youth mentor who wants to facilitate real problem-solving sessions — even when you don’t know the answer. Especially when you don’t know the answer.
💼 You’re a manager or leader who wants teams that take initiative rather than wait to be told what to do
🌱 You’re reading this for yourself — because you want to sharpen your own problem-solving edge, or finally build the learning habits that have always felt just out of reach
Meet Marsha Tufft, PhD
I love snorkeling in the ocean with sea turtles, teaching my golden retriever cool tricks, and solving problems by coming up with my own designs.
I’m also a retired aerospace engineer with a Ph.D., over 35 years of engineering experience at GE Aviation, and the award-winning author of the Putney Hicks Inventor Adventures middle-grade fiction series — think Nancy Drew meets MacGyver.
Here’s the twist: it was 39 years of dog training — attending workshops from some of the world’s best trainers — that changed how I think about learning. Watching animals solve problems without the crutch of language gave me insights I never got from a classroom.
When I combined what I’d learned from education research with what my dogs taught me about choice, motivation, and fearless problem-solving, everything clicked.
The result is Choose, Fail, Grow.
I’m not a theorist. Everything in this book has been tested — in GE conference rooms, Girl Scout camps, agility trials, living rooms, and a very memorable cardboard boat race in a GE Fitness Center pool.
SOCIAL PROOF SECTION
Headline:
What early readers are saying
(Use any testimonials or early reader quotes you have here. If you don’t have book testimonials yet, you can temporarily use testimonials from your fiction books, your STEM experiments, or quotes from colleagues about your teaching/engineering work. Replace with book-specific quotes as they come in.)
Placeholder format:
“[Quote here]”
— [Name], [Title/Role]
Three ways to build problem-solvers
Choose, Fail, Grow doesn’t stand alone. It’s part of a complete system:
📖 This book — the why and how of building problem-solving confidence at any age
🔬 The Putney Hicks Inventors Club — hands-on STEM experiments designed for parents, teachers, and troop leaders who want to facilitate real learning but don’t know where to start. [Link to marshatufft.com/STEM]
📚 The Putney Hicks Inventor Adventures series — award-winning middle-grade fiction that models problem-solving, resilience, and the choice muscle in action. Because stories change attitudes. [Link to books page]
Together, these three resources give kids the inspiration, the framework, and the practice to become confident problem-solvers.
Start today. Start small. Start with a volcano.
You don’t have to wait for the book to start building problem-solvers.
Grab your free Volcano Bundle now — three complete hands-on STEM experiments that teach real science through real discovery. Perfect for the kitchen table, the classroom, or the troop meeting.
And when you sign up, you’ll be among the first to know when Choose, Fail, Grow is available.
[Email capture form — repeat]
Button: Yes, Send Me the Free Experiments!
No spam, ever. Unsubscribe anytime. I only send things worth reading.