Framework library · Change management
Force field analysis
Force field analysis treats the current situation as a balance: driving forces push towards the change and restraining forces hold things where they are. Scoring each force shows which side is stronger, and the planning question is which forces you can move. Weakening a restraint usually shifts the balance with less friction than pushing harder, because extra pressure tends to call up more resistance.
Use it when
- You are deciding whether a proposed change is achievable and what it would take.
- A change has stalled and the team keeps adding pressure without effect.
- You need a shared picture of the arguments for and against before a decision meeting.
Avoid it when
- You need to compare several options. A force field looks at one change. Use a weighted decision matrix to choose between options.
- The forces are mostly about individual people's reactions. Map them with stakeholder mapping or a resistance register, which keep the detail by person or group.
- You need numbers. The scores are judgements about strength, not measurements. For a financial case, use a business case or sensitivity analysis.
How to run it
State the change as a target
"Move support for radio customers to remote-first by the end of 2027", not "improve support". The forces only make sense against a specific target.
List the driving and restraining forces
Driving forces push towards the target: customer demand, cost, technology, regulation, people who want it. Restraining forces hold the current state: rules, contracts, habits, fears, missing skills. Aim for three to eight on each side.
Score each force from 1 to 5
How strong is it today? Agree the scores in the room. Arguments about a score are often where the useful information is.
Decide what you could do about each force
For restraints: remove, weaken or work round. For drivers: strengthen or make visible. Leave a force alone if you cannot move it, and say so.
Score each force as it would be after the action
The summary compares the balance now with the balance after the actions, and shows how much of the shift comes from weakening restraints rather than pushing harder.
Act on the restraints first
Start with the strongest restraint you can weaken. If the balance after all actions is still negative, the change is not achievable on this plan.
Work through it
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Mistakes to avoid
- Listing forces without scoring them, which turns the analysis into a list of pros and cons.
- Answering every restraint by adding pressure. Mandates, deadlines and targets raise the driving total on paper and the resistance in practice.
- Leaving out the restraints that are uncomfortable to say, such as people fearing for their jobs. They are usually the strongest.
- Treating an even balance as a reason to proceed. A change needs a clear margin to move, not a tie.
Where it comes from
Based on Kurt Lewin's field theory. His idea that a situation is held in a quasi-stationary equilibrium by forces for and against change is set out in "Frontiers in Group Dynamics", Human Relations 1(1), 1947, and collected in Field Theory in Social Science, edited by Dorwin Cartwright (Harper, 1951). The scored list of driving and restraining forces is the form in which practitioners have since applied it. Source.
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