A new article by Dr. Yossi Maaravi, Boaz HaMeiri, Tamar Gor, Ben Heller, Dan Confino, Hila Amdor and Yuval Levy under the title:
Using Leading Questions to Reduce Resistance to Innovation
Cite article
Maaravi, Y., Hameiri, B., Gur, T., Heller, B., Confino, D., Amdor, H., & Levi, Y. (2023). Using Leading Questions to Reduce Resistance to Innovation. Journal of Creativity, 33(3), 100067.
Dr. Yossi Marabi shared with us the basics of his new research in which he is a partner along with other researchers, some of whom are graduates of the school:
"This research in which I took part together with Dr. Boaz HaMeiri from Tel Aviv University, Dr. Tamar Gor - a post-doctoral student at the School of Entrepreneurship, Hila Amdor and Yuval Levy - alumni of the School of Entrepreneurship and Ben Heller and Dan Confino.
The study investigates strategies for overcoming employee resistance to innovation within organizations, recognizing the critical role of innovation for organizational success.
In a world where innovation is a necessary tool for the survival of a business, small or large, old or young - we understand the importance of the way to assimilate innovation and not just the creation of innovation in the organization. The way the process of assimilating the innovation in the organization is carried out can affect the success of the assimilation and with it the success of the future of the organization.
The responsibility for encouraging and promoting innovation lies with all employees in the organization, but mainly with managers and formal and informal innovation leaders who can use external consultants and organizations that specialize in implementing cross-organizational processes - usually, these solutions are very expensive, long and do not guarantee the dismantling of the basic resistance of the employees.
In this study, we offer a possibility to dissolve the expected and understandable objections of the employees to the change - feeling of fear, suspicion, caution, and resistance to the change, how the change will affect me personally, fear of learning new technologies and more.
As a manager in an organization, the first thing that is important to the process is the understanding and acceptance of these fears and objections, the second and most important step in which this research deals - is the construction of guiding questions for employees who will succeed in breaking down the objections and harnessing them to the assimilation of the innovation.
The research focuses on the use of guiding questions as a means of promoting attitude change and reducing resistance to new ideas. We tested two types of leading questions: conventional, which elicit responses that are inconsistent with existing opinions, and paradoxical, which encourage more extreme statements consistent with existing opinions. Using two laboratory experiments involving participants with different levels of resistance to change, the study finds that the two leading question strategies are effective for people with low resistance, but the conventional strategy is more successful for those with higher resistance to change. The purpose of the study is to contribute important insights to the treatment of internal resistance to innovation and provides implications for managers looking for effective strategies to promote organizational innovation.
From the Article
Simply put, the research suggests that asking specific types of questions can help people become more open to innovative ideas, especially if they are initially resistant to change. This study aims to provide practical insights to managers and others involved in fostering innovation within organizations."
Abstract
Innovation is crucial for organizational success and survival. Yet, organizations often find it difficult to assimilate new ideas as they face internal resistance to change and innovation. Therefore, managers need to implement strategies to reduce such resistance. In two laboratory experiments, we examined the effects of asking leading questions – a powerful means for attitude change – to overcome innovation resistance. We investigate two leading questions strategies, which might lead to self-persuasion: the conventional and the superattitudinal (or paradoxical). The conventional strategy includes leading questions that encourage individuals to respond with statements which are inconsistent with their held views. In contrast, the superattitudinal questions stir individuals to respond with statements consistent with their opinions but more extreme and exaggerated. In the current research, the leading questions prompted answers that relate to resistance to innovation. Both persuasion methods were similarly effective for participants who had relatively low initial levels of resistance to change. However, the conventional strategy was more effective among the more resistant individuals, both when resistance to change was measured (Study 1) and when it was manipulated (Study 2). These are initial indications as to ways to better direct persuasion and attempts to reduce resistance to innovation.
