What’s the who-gives-a-damn-principle and why should you learn it?

Read more thoughts on the art of communicating week-daily at https://michaelgerharz.com/blog

Mentioned in this episode:

My new book is out now

You’ve got a bold vision and a strategy to achieve it! But why does your company seem to be standing still? Why is the gap between what strategy promises and what it delivers so vast and disheartening? And what to do about it? Find out in my new book “The PATH to Strategic Impact”: https://geni.us/the-path

New book

Professor Donald Saari is a mathematics professor at the

University of California, Irvine.

In the fantastic book “What the best college teachers do”, he's counted

among the best teachers in the world.

One thing that's remarkable about him is the who gives a damn principle that

he has established in his lectures.

In the first lecture of a semester, he explains what he means by that.

The who gives a damn principle allows his students to interrupt him at any point

in time, no matter what he's currently doing or saying to ask the question: ”Who

gives a damn?” He will then immediately interrupt what he's currently doing to

give an elaborate answer to that question and explain why this specific detail is

of the utmost importance to first, today's lecture and second, the overall education

of the students as a mathematician.

So, for every detail that made it into his lecture, Professor Saari knows exactly

why it's in there and why it matters.

He's able to do this because he has thought deeply about the

struggles of a mathematician and how the concepts help his students

to become a better mathematician.

He doesn't just speak about the things he cares about.

He focuses entirely on the things that his students need.

Could you do the same for your comunication?