There is no single right answer or path forward, but there is one right way to frame the problem.
From my first year on the faculty, there was always so much more I wanted to impart to the students. I decided that, rather than waste the last day of class summarizing the semester, I'd spend my time talking about what I'd learned in life that was useful.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote emphasizes the importance of sharing life lessons rather than merely summarizing academic content.
In this quote, Clayton M. Christensen reflects on the value of imparting practical life lessons to students instead of adhering strictly to the syllabus on the last day of class. He suggests that the experiences and insights gained from life can be more beneficial for students' personal growth and future endeavors than a mere recap of the academic material covered. This approach fosters a deeper connection and a more meaningful educational experience.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
During a graduation speech, a professor might use this quote to inspire students to seek wisdom beyond textbooks.
More from Clayton M. Christensen
All quotes →Understanding motivation is one of the most important things we can do in our lives, because it has such a bearing on why we do the things we do and whether we enjoy them or not.
Companies, in fact, are specifically organized to under-invest in disruptive innovations! This is one reason why we often suggest that companies set up separate teams or groups to commercialize disruptive innovations. When disruptive innovations have to fight with other innovations for resources, they tend to lose out.
There is no evidence that success in business will make us happy people or allow us to have happy families.
By definition, big data cannot yield complicated descriptions of causality. Especially in healthcare. Almost all of our diseases occur in the intersections of systems in the body.
The breakthrough innovations come when the tension is greatest and the resources are most limited. That's when people are actually a lot more open to rethinking the fundamental way they do business.
Similar quotes
I am deeply interested in the progress and elevation of journalism, having spent my life in that profession, regarding it as a noble profession and one of unequaled importance for its influence upon the minds and morals of the people
Good teachers never say anything. What they do is create the conditions under which learning takes place.
There is little doubt that our society is changing rapidly, but one thing will never change as long as we remain a democracy: the need for voters to know the essentials of our history and government.
But one of the things I have learned during the time I have spent in the United States is an old African American saying: Each one, teach one. I want to believe that I am here to teach one and, more, that there is one here who is meant to teach me. And if we each one teach one, we will make a difference.
I always tell my students: I don't care which side you're on. I respect you too much to try to persuade you in 120 minutes a week, much less lure you into pretending that you agree with me. All I want is for you to own this democracy, to see yours, to have a stake in it.
The only important thing in a book is the meaning that it has for you.