(Photo by Allison Shelley/Complete College Photo Library)

I've spent over a decade developing and supporting faculty with adopting emerging technology, and I've seen this pattern before. A promising conversation gains traction, someone raises a valid concern, and suddenly the window for forward movement closes. It's not that the concerns aren't legitimate; they usually are. It's that without preparation, we can lose precious time we won't get back.

Why early institutional signals shape everything that follows, and why it is never too late to shift.

Photo by Allison Shelley/Complete College Photo Library