Leading with the Heart

The idea of appealing to a person's heart in order to create buy-in and promote a systemic change is not a new one. Marketers have used this tactic on consumers for decades, creating a convincing ploy through the power of influence.

The idea of appealing to a person's heart in order to create buy-in and promote a systemic change is not a new one. Marketers have used this tactic on consumers for decades, creating a convincing ploy through the power of influence. In 5305 (Disruptive Innovation), we took a look at several of these same videos. I even wrote an extra blog post reflecting on these messages titled, "A Lesson from Apple." In this reflection, I recalled a commercial from the tech tycoon promoting its newest feature: FaceTime.

"Skype and other similar services had been around for years; Apple was not creating anything new, so its approach to selling this service had to be different. The advertisements for FaceTime were set to soft, emotional music and dramatized scenarios where several families that were celebrating significant events together. These included birthdays, graduations, the first steps of a baby, and more. At the end of the commercial, it was revealed that some of the members of the family were not actually at these events in person, but rather sharing the experience via the power of FaceTime. What a sell! Apple was able to create a situation that felt personal and affected our emotions surrounding family. We had to have FaceTime after that, it almost felt like it wasn’t even a choice."

Apple's marketing department moved the personal decision of the buyer from considering the extrinsic benefits of this tech (bandwidth capabilities, mobile video conferencing, advanced WIFI speed) to an intrinsic motivation where the debate on whether to purchase a new iPhone was determined by how this device would impact one's family.

In the world of education, we just always seem to be slow to change. From my experience, the majority of district and campus initiatives are promoted by looking at factual data and delivering well-designed time tables for implementation. This is how I operate as well in my specific role - I provide teachers with a lot of logical reasons why we are starting a new project or altering a current expectation. I think schools still tend to target the mind because it is easier to take a more logical approach. Facts and data can always prove or disprove something, and it is hard to argue with data. Sadly, I think I sometimes assume that teachers will automatically be on board with me. In other words, I don't think teachers need convincing. But after diving into the material early into this course, I realize this is a grave mistake to make. Also, I wonder if aiming for the heart can feel like manipulation to some degree. It feels much more comfortable for me to unemotionally target the mind rather than to try and draw on the emotions of the heart. I know this will be a learning process for me to figure out how to promote organizational change.

The one aspect that I look forward to exploring the most is the notion of urgency. The heart, intrinsic motivation and the "why" are all concepts and terms that I am familiar with, but creating a sense of urgency has really grabbed my attention. I would love to hear how others are implementing this concept into their innovation plans.