BUSM 4194 / 4190 / 4177 Leading for Change Extract from prescribed textbook describing Kurt Lewin’s force field and change model

Lewin’s contribution (force field, ice cube and action research models)
Kurt Lewin was born in Germany of middle class Jewish extraction. Along with fellow co-founders of the Gestalt movement he migrated overseas (to the US) as Nazism took hold in Germany. The Gestalt School differentiated itself from others in psychology by its adherence to the principle of ’wholeness’. By way of example – an individual recognising a forest before they notice the trees and other components of which it is composed and which define it as a forest. This principle gave rise to familiar drawings of objects which could be perceived as two different things simultaneously, depending on the way an individual chose to perceive them. Gestaltism gained pre-eminence by virtue of its empirical tradition in studies of perception, which generated a series of perceptual organising rules still very much current today (for example in systems thinking). Lewin, like his colleagues, applied Gestalt principles to other areas in psychology – however it was his work in experimental social psychology, and especially with groups and their influence, which proved to be most his most notable achievement. Lewin developed ‘field theory’ to explain the effect that social (group) influence has on individuals. According to this theory, individuals live inside intangible ‘bubbles’ - a person’s goals could be disparate from what they think others expected. The resulting tension – forces which push and pull the individual – represents the dissonance between the individual’s desire and their attributions about the desires of others. This tension mediates the decision over which action an individual will take. In other words our actions, goals and thoughts are at the mercy of social pressures we believe we encounter from different groups – our interpretation of what we think their expectations of us are. Because an individual cares for what others think of them, they will acquiesce to these forces accordingly. Lewin applied this thinking to broader social agendas such as racism, in order to evoke change. At this level he defined issues as having a discernible boundary in which dwelt a constellation of factors serving to dissipate and/or maintain the entire field which the boundary encompassed. Lewin’s Ice cube model is a metaphor to describe an induced change process comprising three linear and sequenced, elemental steps of unfreezing, movement and re-freezing. Unfreezing requires inducing a state of disequilibrium which unbalances the status quo; movement involves directing the change; and, refreezing requires institutionalising the change. Field theory and the ice cube model are interactive – their combined utility is depicted in the diagram on the next page.

Figure 1 Change process as defined by combining the ice cube and force field models

Source: Adapted from Hatch, M J 1997, Organization Theory: Modern, Symbolic, and Postmodern Perspectives, Oxford University Press, New York, p. 354.

Noting that status quo is kept in check by forces driving change and those restraining it, Force Field analysis can assist in the change process by identifying both forces for and against change. Addressing and lessening the impact of forces maintaining the status quo is more effective in achieving change outcomes than leveraging forces for change which may result in equal amounts of reactionary force – thus, only serving to maintain the status quo. The term ‘action research’ emerged from an experiment with six groups of 13–17 female householders to facilitate a change to eating offal rather than beef during WWII food rationing. The experiment showed two things, namely, that a discussion amongst peers was a better facilitator of change in behaviour than an edifying lecture; and also, that discussion created new norms which influenced individuals in the group (Lewin 1947, cited in Vaughan & Hogg 2005). Because the housewives were actually active participants in the experiment, the process was called action research.

References
Hatch, MJ 1997, Organization Theory: Modern, Symbolic, and Postmodern Perspectives, Oxford University Press, New York. Lewin, K & Weiss Lewin, G 1948, Resolving Social Conflicts, Harper, New York. Lewin, K 1951, ‘The Field Approach: Culture and Group Life as Quasi-Stationary Processes’, in French, WL, Bell, CH & Zawacki, RA (eds), Organizational Development and Transformation: Managing Effective Change, 5th edn (2000), McGraw-Hill Irwin, Boston. Vaugh, GM & Hogg, HA 2005, Introduction to Social Psychology, 4th edn, Pearson Education Australia, French's Forest, NSW, Australia.