Lewin's Change Theory

According to Spector (2013) Lewin's field theory has three steps: 1) unfreezing; 2) Moving and; 3) refreezing. Unfreezing and refreezing serve as bookends to the process. Unfreezing requires members of the group to be unsatisfied with the status quo (Spector, 2013). In the case of Children's Hospital, the financial crisis and employee moral/satisfaction were at all-time lows which created the dissatisfaction with the status quo (Spector, 2013). Once a new status quo and new patterns of behavior have been implemented refreezing can occur (Spector, 2013). However, in order to get to refreezing, moving needs to occur which encourages members of the group to alter their behavior (Spector, 2013).

Investing in the continued professional development of people is beneficial, for employee morale and for the company’s bottom line

No matter how easy is may seem on the surface, the unfreezing, moving and refreezing stages of Lewin’s 3-Step model must be taken (Lewin, 1946). These stages are difficult and persistence by the organization in sticking to its objectives for growth and improvement must remain a top priority. In reality no matter how many positives a new idea is there will always be resistance when it is introduced. Change management is therefore central to the process of making the transition from the old system to the new and change management practices should be employed throughout the transition (ITIL,

In the article entitled “Lewin’s Theory of Planned Change as a Strategic Resource”, the author, Shirey (2013) stated that Lewin’s approach to change involves looking at the forces that are needed to diminished or strengthened in order to bring about change within an organization. Burnes and Cooke (2012) added to Shirey’s point by noting that it is important to understand the psychological forces influencing peoples’ behavior at a given point in time before change can be made. Both authors main point of agreement is that there are a number of forces that drive, restrain or balance peoples’ behavior. These authors stated that organizational change is necessary to meet consumer needs. Also, as technology changes, such as the change from the paper medical record to the EMR, health care organizations have to adopt these changes to improve patient safety. In addition, change provides a learning opportunity for employees and allows

Lippitt’s Phases of Change is an extension of Lewin’s Three-Step Theory. The focus on Lippitt’s change theory is on the change agent rather than the change itself.

Lippitt’s Phases of Change Theory Lippitt, Watson, and Westley (1958) extend Lewin’s Three-Step Change Theory. Lippitt, Watson, and Westley created a seven-step theory that focuses more on the role and responsibility of the change agent than on the evolution of the change itself. Information is continuously exchanged throughout the process. The seven steps are:

The results of my survey based on the Kurt Lewin’s theory questions ten different adolescents. I provided seven different questions that will help me determine whether my hypostasis about Lewin’s theory. My hypothesis is that social groups will change though out time because people grow up and move on to different things. There were five female and five male adolescents that participated in my survey that aged from 18-19 years old. The first question asked if there are any first from their childhood still present in their life. Ten out of ten of the adolescent answered yes. This proofs that people will continue to have a good friendship with their childhood friend in their teen years. The second question, asks if the adolescents social circles have changed in the past five years.

The significance of Lewin’s change theory lay not in the formality of the theory itself but rather on his ability to conceptualize real situations and as a result come up with models that reflect ideal situations. Kurt Lewin cut a niche for himself as one of the pioneers of the applied, organizational and social psychology. Born Kurt Zadek Lewin in September 9 1890, he is acknowledged as the founder of social psychology and among the first people to study organizational development and group dynamics. He lays claim to the term action research which he coined in 1944 to try and explain the effect of social action and the factors that lead to the same. A spiral circle

According to Burnes, Kurt Lewin’s theory of change management has stayed relevant for over forty plus years, however as of recently, lewin’s approach was met with major scrutiny with critics often pointing out that change management theory applies to to work in situations where the work environment or project is small in nature and applies heavily on the fact that the organisation is stable and ignored instrumental politics in the business and furthermore was criticized for focusing too heaviliy on management driven tactics (Burnes, 2004). Burnes has specifically stated that the intention of the article is to reevaluate and to test the claims against the greater benefits that has been gained. It is very evident from the article that Burnes specifically talks about the social challenges that Lewin has faced and how that has in turn driven Lewin to create the Planned Approach to change and the elements of the change, which are Field Theory, Group Dynamics, Action Research and finally, the

In addition, Lewin recognized that change is almost always met with resistance. More importantly, he identified the behaviors and environments that stimulate resistance. Thus, careful consideration of behavioral and environmental impacts must occur in the Unfreezing stage of Lewin’s Unfreezing-Changing-Refreezing Model prior to implementing the change. This will prepare the leaders of the organization to meet the resistance with the correct leadership and management style.

In the 3-step model for successful organizational change, Kurt Lewin argues that successful change in organizations follows 3 steps:

The model represents a very simple and practical model for understanding the change process. For Lewin, the process of change entails creating the perception that a change is needed, then moving toward the new, desired level of behavior and finally, solidifying that new behavior as the norm. The model is still widely used and serves as the basis for many modern change models.

Kurt Lewin developed a model of the change process that has stood the test of time and continues to influence the way organizations manage planned change. Lewin’s change model is a three-step process. The process begins with unfreezing, which is a critical first obstacle in the change process. Unfreezing involves encouraging individuals to shed old behaviors by changing the status quo. The second step in the change process is moving. In the moving stage, new attitudes, values, and behaviors are substituted for old ones. Organizations accomplish moving by initiating new options and explaining the rationale for the change, as well as by providing training to help employees develop the new skills they need. The last step in the change process is Refreezing. In this step, new attitudes, values, and behaviors are established as the new normal. The new ways of operating are concrete and reinforced. Managers should ensure

According to Kurt Lewin’s change model (1947), there are three aspects of managing organizational change: unfreezing, change intervention and refreezing. By observing the change model, all four characters are seen to go through the freezing stage when they found the first cheese station.

When changes are inevitable, the leaders usually design some adequate steps to make the change go smooth, effective and permanently. Kurt Lewin argued that successful change in organizations should follow three steps: