Kurt Lewin (1951), organizational theorist of “three phases” fame, also developed the concept of force fields in change. Lewin basically asserts that there are forces that drive change or progress toward a goal (helping forces) and forces that drive resistance to change (hindering forces). The difference in resistance to change vs. readiness to change lies in how many forces fall on each side.

When leading change in organizations, the primary role for leadership is to unbalance the force. Leaders need to influence followers to see the reasons to change, strengthen the helping forces in the process. If leaders fail to unbalance the force, the change effort simply will not occur.

Lewin, K. (1951). Field Theory in Social Science. New York, NY: Harper & Row.