FREE online courses on Change Management - The Change Process as Problem
Solving and Problem Finding - The Change Process as Unfreezing Changing and
Refreezing
The process of change has been characterized as having three
basic stages: unfreezing, changing, and re-freezing. This view draws heavily on
Kurt Lewin's adoption of the systems concept of homeostasis or dynamic
stability.
What is useful about this framework is that it gives rise to
thinking about a staged approach to changing things. Looking before you leap is
usually sound practice.
What is not useful
about this framework is that it does not allow for change efforts that begin
with the organization in extremis (i.e., already “unfrozen”), nor does it allow
for organizations faced with the prospect of having to “hang loose” for extended
periods of time (i.e., staying “unfrozen”).
In other words, the beginning and ending point of the
unfreeze-change-refreeze model is stability - which, for some people and some
organizations, is a luxury. For others, internal stability spells disaster. Even
the fastest of hares, if standing still, can be overtaken by a tortoise on the
move.
