The Low Trust Tax

Every EdTech leader can identify problems that slow or undermine a project: delayed deliveries, poor training, limited experience, miscommunication, no accountability. Harder to see, but often more expensive, is the tax you pay when trust is low. When teachers don't trust a new platform will work because they weren't consulted and don't understand the reason for change. A few may protest silently while others quietly opt out until they're forced to comply, but they're highly unlikely to actively embrace or enroll in the initiative jeopardizing it's success. When administrators don't trust EdTech leaders, they advocate for alternatives that protect their interests, but may not serve the district well. When the board doesn't trust your recommendations, every request turns into a hearing. A lack of trust burns your two scarcest resources: time and momentum.

This is the core idea behind Stephen M. R. Covey's *The Speed of Trust* — when trust goes up, speed goes up and cost goes down. It holds especially true in schools, where research has long tied relational trust to student achievement and to whether improvement efforts stick at all. A district with high trust can pilot, adopt, and scale a tool in a semester. A district with low trust can spend a year on the same rollout and still watch adoption stall, not because the technology failed, but because the relationships around it were neglected and never got built.

What are you actively and consistently doing in your district to build trust with the people you serve?