Have you ever tried to change something? It's hard, is not it? Especially when you're dealing with people. There will always be resistance to change.
Changing forces analysis is a very easy to use and very useful management tool to diagnose a situation. Knowing who is for and who is against, you can develop strategies to reduce the impact of resistance forces and strengthen the governing force, and you can develop an action plan that will lead to the desired change.
Known as English Force Field Analysis, this instrument was introduced by Kurt Lewin, one of the most well-known psychologists of the twentieth century, the founder of "social psychology" and one of the first researchers of group dynamics and organizational development .
According to Kurt Lewin, "A certain issue is held in the balance by the interaction of two opposing forces - the force that seeks to change (driving force) and the force that wishes to maintain the current situation (restraining force). Organizations are systems where the present situation is not a static but a dynamic balance of forces working in opposite directions. To make a change, the driving force needs to be stronger than the force of resistance, thus moving the equilibrium point. "
How to apply
1 The first step is to describe the current situation and to clarify the desired situation. This is how you can define the goals you propose. It should be discussed and how things will evolve in the absence of any action.
2 Take a sheet of paper, split it into two, and you start drawing arrows, on the left side the leading forces and on the right side the forces of resistance. Each force has a certain intensity that will be represented by a number from 1 to 10 for positive forces and from -1 to -10 for negative ones.
Only numbers do not always help. In order to have a more accurate picture, it would be advisable to follow some simple rules:
The stronger the force, the thicker the arrow.
The stronger the force, the longer the arrow will be.
The critical forces will be dark and the critically colored light.
3 Assemble all forces. Is the result positive? Then the change is feasible.
4 Is the result negative? Do not discourage. Try to weaken the negative forces and strengthen the positive forces. For example, talk to those who oppose change and try to attract them to your side. Even if the result was positive from the beginning, it's good to try to change the ratio of forces. The higher the positive and the negative the less the change will be made easier and with lower costs.
Careful!
* Omission of a strong resistance force could have an important impact in implementing the change strategy.
* It is better for negative forces to be overestimated and positive ones to be underestimated than to wake up with negative surprises.
* The attempt to create new positive forces or to reinforce the existing ones may result in the emergence of new resistance forces.
* Efforts to reduce strength might result in a reduction in short-term performance.