It's a Thing: Force Field Analysis

"It's a thing" is a series that highlights concepts that employers and managers use and sometimes evaluate employees with that the average employee may not be aware.

FORCE FIELD ANALYSIS was developed by Kurt Lewin as a tool for understanding what is needed for change to occur. Force field analysis can be applied to organizational change or individual change. 

The concept is quite easy to understand and apply. For any change to occur, there are two kinds of forces at work--driving forces (DF) and resisting forces (RF) (also called restraining or hindering forces). DF are the forces that are attempting to make the change and RF are at work hindering the change.

Employees Must Understand Change

The previous blog stated that employees must change or die. This may seem to be overstated, but the it is close to reality. Employees must understand change and the necessity for change.

Organizations do not change for the sake of changing. There are several factors that make change necessary.

First, technology is changing. There are many engineers and computer geeks sitting around thinking of innovations to make tasks easier and more efficient. Companies that embrace these changes will surge ahead of their competition. 

Second, markets are changing. Things that are popular and marketable yesterday are not popular today. Things that are popular and marketable today will not be popular tomorrow. Inventors and innovators will rule tomorrow's market.

Third, society is changing. We live in a very informed society. Companies must be in tuned with society and adapt. 

Fourth, there is more competition because of globalization and this will continue to increase resulting in an increasing need for change.

Finally, change will also be necessary to keep products and services relevant to the local and global markets.

You Must Change or Die!

This is overstated...or is it?

This may not apply to you personally, but it applies to the company for which you work.

There is a natural cycle to every organization.

• Beginning
• Growth
• Plateau
• Decline
• Death

Without intervention in the plateau phase, the organization will eventually decline and die. The intervention, more often than not, will require change. However, organizations are usually resistant to change. There are common reasons that people are reluctant to change. 

1. Fear of losing status or security. Employees work hard to get where they are and change can mean new technologies to learn, more employees to compete with, and many more real and imagined factors.