8.3.9 Force-field Analysis
The oldest intervention in the OD practitioner's tool kit is the force-field analysis, a device for understanding a problematic situation and planning corrective actions. This technique rests on several assumptions: the present state of things (the current condition) is a quasi-stationary equilibrium representing a resultant in a field of opposing forces. A desired future state of affairs (the desired condition) can only be achieved by dislodging the current equilibrium, moving it to the desired state, and stabilising the equilibrium at that point. To move the equilibrium level from the current to the desired condition, the field of forces must be altered—by adding driving forces or by removing restraining forces.
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