Use a combination of both to move the equilibrium toward changeīefore you choose a path to take, you will need to evaluate the situation at hand.Slow down the resisting forces that are encouraging people to cling to the status quo.Ramp up driving forces that drive behavior toward the intended change.Lewin believed that you could approach the unfreezing process through one of three ways: Let’s go through each of the three steps in Lewin’s Change Model. But once this is done, everyone will be on board and each person will be more likely to gravitate toward change. Upper management may have to direct the organization’s thoughts and share thoughts, feelings, and values that enforce the change. By analyzing the thoughts, feelings, and values that are behind current practices, you can implement change in a positive way. This is why the model is still in use today. But similarly, you have to “melt” the entire structure to its core before implementing changes and setting the organization up for a new structure. When this model is applied to an organization (a business, charity, educational institution, etc.) you probably won’t have to worry about anyone freezing or melting. Once the ice has melted into water, you can transfer it to a mold that looks like a cone, and refreeze it into its new shape. One way to do so is to unfreeze, change, and refreeze the ice. How do you do so without changing the amount of ice that you have? You want to change the ice into a big cone of ice. Let’s say that you have a big cube of ice. In order to understand this model, you’ll need to think of a block of ice. Lewin proposed a model for implementing long-lasting change. In order to change behavior, you had to address driving and restraining forces. If both driving and resisting forces were equal, behavior stood at an equilibrium. If driving forces were stronger than resisting forces, change could occur. Resisting forces prevented them from making the change. Driving forces drove people toward change. Lewin believed that all behavior was a dynamic balance of forces that moved in one of two directions. ![]() Other subjects that Kurt Lewin explored alongside change theory include:ĭriving and restraining forces are building blocks in Lewin's Change Theory. ![]() As you’ll read, commentary on change theory includes insights on how the team as a whole is feeling when change is brought to them, not when they decide to change as an individual. A soccer coach may apply the theory to change their team’s training schedule. A manager may apply Lewin’s change theory to encourage her team to switch to a new way of selling products. Lewin’s Change Theory can be used by individuals, but primarily focuses on change within groups. His field theory, for example, suggests that behavior is the result, not just of the individual’s mental health, but also in how they interact with their environment. What does this say about his work? Well, it certainly ties to the study of groups rather than individuals. ![]() Kurt Lewin was greatly influenced by the Gestalt psychologists. This approach not only influenced theories in psychology but also perception and even design. Gestalt psychologists wanted to look at the whole as well as the sum of its parts. For many decades before Lewin, psychologists were trying to organize ideas within psychology by their parts. Lewin’s work with group dynamics set the stage for the development of Change Theory, but let’s go back even further. At MIT, he set up the Research Center for Group Dynamics, the first institute of its kind. Although he was born in Germany, most of his notable work was done in American institutions, including the University of Iowa and MIT. In fact, he coined the term “group dynamics” that we use today to discuss interpersonal relationships. Kurt Lewin was a German-born psychologist who pioneered research in group dynamics and other facets of social psychology. Lewin's Change Theory is one of the social psychologist's most important contributions to the field. In this theory, Kurt Lewin shares a specific model of change called the Unfreeze-Change-Freeze model. Lewin’s Change Theory looks at the way that we behave and change in organizations.
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