Kurt Lewin
Kurt Lewin was born 1890 in Posen and is known as one of the most influential pioneers of psychology and modern pioneers of social, organizational, and applied psychology in the United States. Lewin is often recognized as the "founder of social psychology" and was one of the first to study group dynamics and organizational development. Lewin died 1947 in Massachusetts.
3 Phase model:
Figure 1: Lewin 3 phase model of change
Lewin’s phase of Unfreezing recognizes that people often resist to changes. That is because change is different than the status quo and there is no certainty if things get better afterwards. (See also group dynamics) That is why there is a need of unfreeze the organization to make them ready for changes. This phase is needed to communicate that there is a need to change, the current status is hindering and that after the change a better future awaits. John Kotter supports that as well and calls it ‘create a sense of urgency’.
Changing: Within Changing people are expected to be unsatisfied or at least unsure of the change and have to learn all the new processes, behaviors and ways of thinking. It is important to assist people a lot in this phase, so they feel looked after. This can be done by communication of reasons, the former pain points and benefits as well as rewards and role-models.
With Refreezing or freezing the new norms are set and the change is anchored. This is to make sure that the organization and people don’t fall back in the old world and behaviors. People can be supported with this also by incentives for the right and new behavior as well as acknowledgement of the indivudal efforts.
The last step is often a source of critic because of the constant need of changing of today, but there is a high risk to not change at all and fall back into the former patterns and behavior.
System thinking
Lewin refers a lot on systems and ecosystem. In my opinion this is due to empathize how important it is to understand why people are behaving in a certain way, why people want to change and learn and why people resist changes. He follows a very human centered way as essential for successful change.
Group dynamics
In a 1947 article, Lewin coined the term "group dynamics". He described this notion as the way that groups and individuals act and react to changing circumstances. This field emerged as a concept dedicated to the advancement of knowledge regarding the nature of groups, their laws, establishment, development, and interactions with other groups, individuals and institutions. During the early years of research on group processes, many psychologists rejected the reality of group phenomena.
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