I was talking to a good friend of mine on the phone the other day. We were just chatting about past projects we had worked on together, and others that my friend had worked on. Our conversation was light and going really well until out of the blue, my friend made a remark that changed everything.
“Do you know what the problem is?” he suddenly said. “When things don’t work out, usually the problem is a lack of buy in. If there’s no buy in, even the best solution can look like the worst solution!”
Talk about a conversation stopper!
I was quiet for a moment as I began to reflect on the many situations I have experienced where the best solutions to a problem ended up being a total failure. I guess my reflecting and not saying anything got my friend’s attention because he asked, “Are you still there!?”
“Yes,” I replied. We carried on talking for awhile and eventually hung up. But after his remark, I couldn’t help but think about it the whole time we were talking, even after I hung up the phone. I have heard of so many good ideas and installations turning sour because of a lack of buy in.
When I hear the words “buy in”, I usually think about a bunch of people working together to come up with a solution they all believe in. Then, they work together to achieve that solution. Most of the time, working on something where everyone has bought into the idea either solves the problem, or provides at least some direction toward solving the problem.
Things begin to rapidly fall apart when you don’t have everyone’s buy in. Without being part of a cohesive team, everyone involved is instead trying to solve the problem in different ways, which usually causes a total failure of all the solutions that are tried. This happens a lot more often than we think. Some people describe this behaviour as sabotage or undermining, but in the end it’s just a lack of proper coordination.
A lack of buy in can be caused by something simple like nonexistent or poor communication. One party not informing another party of what they are doing. In some cases, just a basic lack of understanding of the problem by one or more people can play a part. Much of this can be resolved very easily by making sure that the proper lines of communication and understanding are always open.
I know there are a certain number of you that may think of more sinister reasons why things fail but I am sure that 90%, or more, of the time it’s not someone deliberately sabotaging a project or goal.
The key word in the end is communication. The more we communicate, the more we can get everyone on the same page. I have seen many projects end very successfully because there was buy in from the beginning by all parties. In many cases, a few minutes of conversation is all it takes.
If you think back on projects you have worked on, you can probably say that their success or failure was because of buy in – either a lack of it, or the presence of it.
Think about it, and give me an example of a project you worked on in the comments below: one with either great buy in, or the total absence of it. Did that project end up a success story?
Author: Udo Jahn
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