How many times have you heard complaints that someone just doesn’t ‘get it’? He doesn’t ‘get blogging’. She doesn’t ‘get the culture’. He doesn’t ‘get this account’. They don’t ‘get where the PR industry is going’.

It’s like a club with imaginary entry criteria. There’s a cheap thrill in being told you ‘geddit’ when someone else doesn’t. You’re part of the club and they’re not. We’re similar you and I. Better.

Well no, not better. The implication of saying that someone doesn’t ‘get it’, is that they are unwilling or unable to. Isn’t it more likely that they just haven’t had it explained in terms they understand? Isn’t it actually your fault that they don’t ‘get it’? That you can’t explain it (whatever ‘it’ is) in a way that they can comprehend?

Rather than condemning people who don’t geddit, isn’t it better to help them get there? I’d argue that’s more satisfying than pointing fingers at them. The smug satisfaction of being in the club of those who ‘get it’ is a pretty hollow one, whereas teaching people what you know is far more rewarding. And guess what, you normally learn something too.

So, don’t just get it – give it.