Taming the Buy-In Monster

| By: Committee for Children

This week's blog comes from Training and Technical Assistance Specialist Catrina Cuevas.

In graduate school, I studied the institutionalization of conflict resolution education in schools. One of the theories I looked at was the Diffusion of Innovation theory, which refers to why and how quickly a new idea spreads throughout a culture. I think about this theory in every training when I hear people talk about the challenges of getting buy-in: “How do I get my staff to buy in to using a new program?” Training without buy-in can be one scary monster.

In his book, Diffusion of Innovations, Everett Rogers notes five categories of adopters, or the people who will embrace or reject a new idea, innovation, or in our case, social skills program. They are: Innovators, Early Adopters, Early Majority, Late Majority, and Laggards.

The Innovators make up about 2.5 percent of your community. They will tend to be the first to try a new program. They are often the youngest in age, are willing to take risks, are from the highest social class, have high financial lucidity, are very social, and are in close contact with other innovators and other scientific sources. These may be new educators or teachers fresh out of graduate school. Can you name three or four people who fit this description?

The Early Adopters make up about 13.5 percent of your community. These folks have the highest degree of opinion leadership. They also tend to be younger in age, have high financial lucidity, and have an advanced education. They are also more socially forward than late adopters, and tend to have a high social status. Who are these people at your site?

The Early Majority consists of 34 percent of your school community and are slower to adopt a new program. They have above average social status, contact with early adopters, and show some opinion leadership.

When you are thinking about getting buy-in for your program this coming school year, try to focus your initial attention and efforts on the Innovators and Early Adopters. Identify who those people are in your school, and nurture and encourage the ones who are most likely to jump on the bandwagon first. They will become your cheerleaders who will help generate momentum.

This year, make the buy-in monster a little less scary: focus on your allies, find your innovators, and build some enthusiasm!