1. Emotional Appeals / Communication
Course Check-up
Experience Point
$35 / person
Questions?

2. Sources of Resistance to Change
Problem is if we treat
all resistence as a level 1
Level One
Level Two
Lack of
Information
Personal
Reasons
The fact that change is advisable or even mandatory does not mean that it will be accepted by employees. In fact, it is often the company’s key people who are the most resistant because they may prefer the status quo.
Author-consultant, Rick Maurer, says that resistance to change can stem from two sets of things. Level one resistance is based on lack of information or honest disagreement over the facts. In this case, everything is on the table, and there are no hidden agendas. Level two resistance is more personal and emotional. People are afraid that change may cost them their jobs, embarrass them, or reduce their power and control.
Treating all resistance as if it were level one can cause a company to miss the mark in its change efforts. Maurer notes that “using slick visual presentations to explain change with nice neat facts, charts, and time lines” can be a recipe for disaster when people really want to know how the change will affect them.
Honest
Disagreement
Emotional
Issues
cognitive
emotional

3. Sources of Individual Resistance to Change
Selective
information
processing
Habit
Fear of
the unknown
Economic
factors
Security
Individual
resistance
Material pertinent to this illustration is found on pages

4. Sources of Organizational Resistance to Change
Threat to
Established
resource
allocations
Structural
inertia
expertise
Limited
focus of
change
Group
Organizational
resistance
established
power
relationships
Material pertinent to this illustration is found on pages

5. Reading … Fox A change – sit with different people (groups of four)
Big Message
Interesting
Connect
Holes
CALL

6. Power of Emotional Appeals
Cognitive – Emotional
Emotional Arguments – danger, loss, unpleasantness, risk
Metaphors – machine, family, turn out the lights
Emotional Modes – pictures, slogans, music, colour
Humour – appropriate / un
Display emotions – smiles, speech tone, expressive

7. Your group maybe asked to present their emotional appeal
Change Agent Task
In a group, prepare an emotional argument to persuade Canadians to change our flag to …

8. Next Day Reading
John Kotter