Buy In Comes from Success, Not Declaration
You can't convince people to support something just by telling them it's important. You have to show them it actually works.
I see this play out in companies all the time. A manager announces some new initiative. Everyone nods in the meeting. Then nothing happens. The manager can't figure out why people won't just do what they're supposed to do.
But here's the thing - people aren't resisting because they're being difficult. They're resisting because they've watched a hundred initiatives fizzle out before. The announcement by itself doesn't mean anything to them.
Real buy-in? That comes from watching something succeed. Someone tries the new approach, and it genuinely helps them get better results. They mention it to a colleague. That person tries it and sees the same benefit. Before long, you've got real momentum building.
That's why the smartest way to get people on board isn't some big rollout. It's finding one person who'll actually use it, helping them win with it, and letting them become your walking proof point.
I'm watching this exact pattern unfold with AI right now. A leader gets excited about the technology. They declare, “We're becoming an AI company." They expect the team to start finding problems to solve with it. And then... not much happens. Because nobody showed them what success looks like first. A better approach? In this case, find an issue. Solve it with AI. Show the work. Create curiosity in others.
This same pattern shows up everywhere. Want your team to embrace a new way of doing things? Skip the announcement email. Just start using it yourself until it creates something worth noticing. People will come asking how you pulled it off.
Lesson Learned: Talk is cheap. Results change minds. You can't convince people something works by explaining why it should. You prove it by showing them it does.