Encyclopedia of Leadership

6.5

FORCE-FIELD ANALYSIS:

ORGANIZING AND UNDERSTANDING COMPLEXITY

Inspired by Kurt Lewin, Marvin Weisbord, and others.

Dealing with complexity is a way of life for leaders. There are few simple answers where human

beings are involved. One indication of a complex problem is that the actions taken to solve

the problem have had little or no effect, or have caused yet another problem. This tool com-

pares the driving and restraining forces behind a leadership problem to magnetic or electrical

fields. (Remember your high school physics?) In doing so, it helps leaders to analyze and act

on problems that are difficult to measure. It does this by helping leaders organize and simpli-

fy a problem, and thus to understand:

• the many forces relevant to understanding a complex situation;


• the multiple causes of a complex problem;


• where to act first when multiple actions are available; and


• how to introduce change into an existing system.
  Problems reach a state of equilibrium such that the driving forces and the restraining forces

come into a form of balance or stalemate (e.g., habits, norms, organizational culture, estab-

lished practices, and so on). If you want improvement (positive change), this balance must be

upset: The driving forces must become stronger than the restraining forces. Often, this is best

achieved by reducing the restraining forces first, and increasing the driving forces second. This

sequence is recommended because removing restraining forces can allow the driving forces to

have more impact, while simply adding driving forces can result in increased resistance. To

illustrate, consider a common leadership situation—unproductive meetings.

Desired goal: Productive meetings (e.g., an increase in measurable or observable results

from the meeting, decreased meeting time, increased participation).

Current situation: People come late and leave early, or don’t show up at all. People come

to the meetings without preparing. People complain about side con-

versations. Much of the meeting is spent debating what was decided at

the last meeting.

FORCE-FIELD ANALYSIS

(Note: The length of the arrow indicates the relative strength of the driving or restraining

force.)

SECTION 6 TOOLS FORCRITICALTHINKING ANDINNOVATION 183

Need for meeting results Lack of agreed-to meeting process

Concern by senior management Lack of meeting leadership skills

Personal frustration Poor preparation for meetings

Projects behind schedule Too many meetings

People uninformed No ground rules

Need for teamwork No consequences if late or no-show

No written purpose or goals; just topics

Driving forces Restraining forces

(toward better meetings) (holding us back from better meetings)