force-field-analysis

Kurt Lewin's force field analysis assesses a proposed change by treating the current situation as an equilibrium held by two opposing sets of forces: driving forces that push toward the change, and restraining forces that resist it and hold the status quo. It catches the reflex to push harder for a change instead of removing what blocks it: Lewin's point is that weakening restrainers usually beats adding drivers.

The equilibrium model, the driving and restraining forces with the lenses to hunt across, the 1-to-5 strength scale, and the net-field read live in references/force-field.md. Load that file before analyzing and score each force against the scale exactly.

When to use

The user has a defined change, decision, or goal and wants to know what is pushing for it, what is holding it back, whether it is feasible as things stand, and where the leverage is. The unit of analysis is the change, not the organization as a whole. For leading a full organizational change through to completion use kotter-change; for the individual people-and-adoption side use adkar.

Language

Conduct the session and write the report in the language the user is writing in. The reference file is English; keep the framework, the lenses, and the scoring keyed to it regardless of the output language.

Inputs

• CHANGE (required): the change, decision, or goal being assessed. Push for a precise desired state, since forces can only be judged for or against a target sharp enough to be for or against. "Be more agile" cannot be scored; "move the support team to a four-day week by Q3" can. If the user is vague, sharpen it with one or two questions first.
• CONTEXT (optional): the current situation, who is involved, the constraints, the time horizon, and the decision the analysis should inform. This shapes which forces are in play and the leverage moves, not the scoring scale.