If you've ever wondered why change is so hard - and how to make it easier - force field analysis, developed by Kurt Lewin, might help. This tool acts like a visualisation, mapping out the forces battling for and against your desired change.
On one side, you've got "driving forces" pushing for change, such as desire for improvement or positive incentives. On the other side, "restraining forces" are holding you back - like fear, limited resources, or old habits. By identifying and analysing these competing forces, you gain insight into what's really driving the change, what's holding it back and how getting strategic can move the change forward.
Ultimately to increase the likelihood of making a change, strengthen the driving forces and weaken restraining ones. Force field analysis helps you tip the balance in favour of the change you want to see.
What are the Forces at Play?
Force field analysis helps us understand change as a kind of tug-of-war. There are forces pulling and pushing in both directions, and to get anywhere, we need to understand both sides of the rope.
Driving Forces: "Let's Do This!"
Driving forces are the things pushing you forward. They might include
Motivation: A desire for improvement, an attractive incentive, a feeling of needing to do better.
Pressure: Competition bearing down, new regulations, or a leader with a passionate vision.
Opportunity: Shiny new tech, a chance to expand, or employees demanding positive change.
Restraining Forces: "Whoa There!"
Often there are anchors holding change back, or people resisting the change. They might be:
Fear: Worries about job security, the unknown, or messing things up.
Inertia: Doing it the way we've always done it, comfort in the status quo.
Limited Resources: Not enough time, money, people, or tools to make it happen.
Poor Communication: Confusion about the change, why it's needed, and what it means for people.
Equilibrium: The Stalemate
This is where the tug-of-war is at a standstill. Driving forces and restraining forces are equal, so nothing moves. To make progress, the balance needs to shift.
Making Change Happen
Force field analysis aims to help figure out how to win the tug-of-war.
Strengthen the driving forces: Amplify the motivation, highlight the opportunities, and make a compelling case for change.
Weaken the restraining forces: Address those fears, remove obstacles, and provide the resources needed to make the transition smoother.
How it works
To get started on a force field analysis, first be very specific about the goal you're focussing on, then brainstorm widely to capture all the possible forces that might impact that goal.
Pinpoint your goal: What change are you trying to achieve?
Identify the forces: Brainstorm all the driving and restraining forces at play. Don't hold back.
Assess their strength: Give each force a score between 1-5, with 5 being the strongest. This helps you see which forces have the biggest impact.
Strategise: Now that you've identified the likely forces, how can you boost those that are driving towards change? Can you weaken or even eliminate the restraining forces?
Let's Get Physical: a Worked Example
Imagine you want to start a healthy morning routine:
Forces Acting on the Goal
Goal: Wake up early and exercise 3 times a week.
Driving forces: Feeling healthier (5), having more energy (4), fitting into those jeans (3).
Restraining forces: Comfy bed (5), early mornings are HARD (4), lack of workout buddies (3).
The Strategy
Strengthen the drivers: Visualise that healthy, energetic you and plan rewards for sticking to your routine.
Tackle the restrainers: Prepare your workout clothes the night before. Find an online community or friend for support. Maybe start with just 2 mornings a week.
When might Force Field Analysis be Useful?
Force field analysis is a versatile tool that can be useful in a wide range of change situations. It's particularly helpful when you're facing resistance to change, or when you want to ensure a smooth and successful transition.
Alongside a change impact analysis, a business might use it to understand the factors influencing the adoption of a new technology, a school could use it to understand the challenges of implementing a new curriculum, or an individual might use it to explore the forces affecting their personal goals, like starting a new exercise regime.
By first understanding the potential impacts of a change, you can then use force field analysis to identify the specific forces related to those impacts.
Let's say a company wants to implement a new customer relationship management (CRM) system. The Change Impact Analysis has identified potential impacts in that the Sales teams will need training to learn the new system. A force field analysis might then break down the goal of getting Sales teams to attend training as follows:
Goal:
Get Sales teams trained
Driving Forces:
Increased sales efficiency from a better understanding of processes (3)
Improved customer satisfaction (4)
Better data management leading to better sales intelligence (5)
Restraining Forces:
Resistance from sales teams to take time away from their full schedules (4)
Temporary decrease in productivity while learning something new (3)
Costs of designing, conducting and attending training (5)
Numerically, we have equal strength both for and against getting Sales to attend training. However, the force field analysis can still provide valuable insights to help develop an effective strategy.
Clarity: It provides an insight into the change landscape, not just the good or bad, but the whole picture.
Focus: It may suggest a priority order in which forces to tackle first for maximum impact.
Empowerment: It informs planning. By isolating and dealing with forces working both for and against the change, you're strategically making change happen.
Strategy:
Returning to our example, we might accentuate the benefits to Sales teams of better sales intelligence, happier customers and improved efficiency. To weaken the restraining forces we might partner with the vendor to reduce content development costs, build an e-learning and provide an incentive to complete the training.
What is Force Field Analysis?
Force Field Analysis is a helpful model for thinking about the pressures for and against a change you are considering. It is a dynamic process. As you implement changes, new forces may emerge, and existing forces may change in strength. It's important to regularly review and adjust strategies accordingly.
The benefits of force field analysis include:
Provides a clear understanding of the factors influencing a change.
Helps to identify potential obstacles and challenges.
Encourages a structured approach to decision-making.
Facilitates the development of effective action plans.
Given that each force field analysis deals with a specific point in time, and it's scope is limited, it may not capture the full dynamics of the change. It is also a subjectively weighted model and therefore contains the potential for bias. When used in combination with other change management tools, and diverse inputs, many weaknesses of the model can be mitigated.
By analysing the forces interacting with change, organisations can develop strategies to address the concerns and promote the benefits. Force field analysis con provide a constructive and informed place to build a strategy that influences the forces both for and against the change.
Contact us today for more on successful strategies to manage change.
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