By Jill Jackson

     I’m really excited about all of the Common Core work that we’re getting our hands dirty with these days. It’s keeping so many of us on our toes … and that’s a really good thing, in my opinion!

     But along with implementing something new, like the Common Core, comes a whole lot of noise. You know, the noise of new stuff to buy (like curriculum), the noise of new stuff to do (like professional development), and the noise of getting people on the same page to do the work ahead. General noise that, at first glance, makes it seem as though folks are getting a lot done, but in reality is just a whole lot of talking. 

     One of the biggest sources of the Common Core “noise” is this: We are in a building buy-in phase of implementation. 

OK, first of all, I don’t know what that means. Is there a universal definition for building buy-in?    

     Secondly, “we are in the buy-in phases of implementation” typically means that most people in the organization are doing nothing about the new innovation or implementation, while the others are figuring out how to get the ones doing nothing to do something! Can you relate?

     I often tell my clients (and I slightly cringe when I say it because most of our clients are using the term “building buy-in” liberally), “Don’t waste your time building buy-in because it’s really going to get you a whole lot of nothing.” (It’s at this point that most of the administrators in the room start to get really uncomfortable, and their eyes start darting everywhere but at me.) 

     What I really mean is this: You can call this phase building buy-in, but please don’t use buy-in, or the amount of buy-in from your organization, as a measuring stick of whether you should move forward. Why? Because buy-in is a fickle thing, which is often based on emotion. And emotion doesn’t get the job done; work gets the job done.

Let’s take the Common Core as an example …

     If I’m a district curriculum director or principal who is in the “building buy-in” phase of implementing the Common Core, I have to ask myself this: If they don’t buy in, does that mean we’re not going to do it? Um, well, geez … that would be a “Heck no!” We’re going to do the Common Core because we have to. There really isn’t any choice.  

     I also have to ask myself this: How can I expect my staff to buy in to something that they don’t know much about? 

     In other words, if I don’t have a choice as to whether I have to do the Common Core, then why are you asking for my buy-in? Also, how do you expect me to buy in to something that I know nothing about? It just doesn’t make much common sense. [Insert bad Common Sense/Common Core jokes here!]

   The bottom line is this: I see a lot of schools and districts substituting building buy-in for real action. They’re fooling themselves into thinking that, because they’re getting folks on board, they’re getting folks to do things. And that’s just not typically the case. In fact, it’s really common to see that many staff members in a district or school don’t even know they’re in buy-in phase at all! So, I have to ask: If they don’t know they’re in buy-in phase, then what are the odds that the instruction will actually be changed for the better? That’s what I thought.

   Oh, and I think we’re failing to think about the fact that most teachers are ready to get the show on the road—long, drawn-out buy-in phases just make most teachers jumpy and feeling like the other shoe is going to drop … and it’s going to be bad. 

   Let’s be real: If we’re not doing anything instructionally, then nothing’s going to change. And periods of buy-in typically aren’t about altering anything instructionally. 

So what’s the alternative to all of this?

I suggest that we change the term “building buy-in” to “getting started.”  

And then get started.

Where should we get started?

1.   Start by sharing with staff the timeline for the change ahead

2.   Let staff know which parts of the new implementation are set for them (they have no               choice) and where their input is going to be necessary (they have choice)

3.   Share very honestly the increased amount of time that it will take on their part (this is a           HUGE resistance killer!)

4.   Outline very specifically what they will be required to do as a change of practice (we will           stop doing X and start doing Y)

5.   Tell them very specifically what they need to do right away (for example, “I am going to           ask every one of you to go home and read through your grade-level standards and keep a         casual tally of which standards you feel like you’re comfortable teaching and which will be         a stretch for you”)

6.   Then do that.

     Here’s what I see over and over again: Buy-in lasts too long. Folks get resistant because we’ve failed to outline exactly what they’ll need to do, and they feel frustrated and overwhelmed. Leadership sees the resistance as a reaction to the new thing and slows the buy-in process down even more because they think they need to get people comfortable with the new thing, and that’ll take more time. More resistance ensues.

My advice? Get started with the new thing. 

Buy-in is built DURING the work, not before.

Jill Jackson is known for telling it like it really is as she works to simplify and demystify the oft-confusing work of school improvement. She recently wrote Get a Backbone, Principal!  5 Conversations Every School Leader Must Have Right Now and blogs at www.jackson-consulting.com Mondays and Thursdays.