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Jayendra Rimal
MBA, BE
Kurt Lewin’s Model
• Kurt Lewin introduced two ideas of change.
• What is occurring at any point is the resultant of two
opposing forces ensuing in a status quo. This creates an
equilibrium point in a field of opposing forces.
• One force, called the “pushing force”, strives for change
while the other force, called the “restraining force”,
tries to maintain the status quo (opposes change).
When both forces are equal a status called “quasi-
state equilibrium” is maintained. To change, the
pushing forces need to increase while the restraining
forces decrease or use a combination of both.
• Lewin suggested that modifying the restraining forces
may produce less tension and resistance (more
effective change strategy) than increasing forces for
Kurt Lewin’s Model, contd…
• Lewin also viewed change process as consisting of three
stages.
– Unfreezing: Creating motivation and readiness to change
the behavior through (a) psychological disconfirmation (b)
creation of guilt or anxiety and (c) Provision of
psychological safety.
– Moving: Changing through cognitive restructuring. This is
done by helping people to see things, judge things, feel
things and react to things differently based on new point
of view obtained through (a) identifying with a new role
model/mentor and (b) scanning the environment for new
relevant information. This helps in shifting behavior to
new levels by developing new behaviors, values or
attitudes.
– Refreezing: Helping people to integrate the new point of
Action Research
• Action research attempts to meet the dual goals of
making action more effective and building a body of
scientific knowledge around that action.