Dr. Kurt Lewin is the author of seminal works in organizational behavior circles. Lewin offered a simplistic model to explain the change process. The process consists of three phases – “unfreeze – change – freeze.” The “unfreeze” phase announces the intention to change by making the norm for the behavior specifically targeted and helping people deal with letting go of the old norm. The unfreezing of the norm is immediately followed by the movement to the new norm, referred to as “change.” Finally, the organization or culture will establish this change or new destination as the new norm and “freeze” it. Voilà – CHANGE!
You may say to me at this point, “Well, DUH, Dr. Dave! You can’t change something until you prep the people, make the change and re-freeze it if you want to sustain the change.” Well, if the change process were so “duh” easy, everyone would do it successfully. Dr. Lewin keenly realized organizations, people, and cultures would revert back to the previous norm or potentially degenerate into a version of chaos if the new norm is not frozen. I refer to this “sustaining the newly frozen norm” as the “Lewin Riddle.” I have found making a change easy; sustaining the change difficult. If you can solve the Lewin Riddle, your organization will succeed in responding to the winds of change.
So, the obvious question . . . What can I do to get the change to stick; what’s the answer to the Lewin Riddle?
Stay tuned, and we will discuss it further. The answer is elusive, as you may have guessed; however, I have come across several tools and techniques that may help. I also invite your thoughts on sustaining change and solving the Lewin Riddle in your organization.
Until next time!
Dr. Dave