Is it ever happiness that we seek? No, it is the free play of those forces that happen to be the most recent ones in us. —Andre Gide (at age 80)

Another way to state this secret is that any change is caused by a combination of all Four Forces. I pointed out earlier that a person cannot be separated from her environment. Similarly, a person cannot be separated from herself or her own internal needs, behavioral tendencies, and cognitive strategies.
Therefore, any change that is made (remember that Lewin uses “change” and “behavior” synonymously) must be in the context of all Four Forces.

Why worry about all the Four Forces, if the person just cares about a particular force? Let’s say the organization wants to respond to a new regulatory requirement in the environment. Seems simple enough. But, the organization’s goals, systems, and culture all play a role in how the organization responds to this environmental force. In fact, the environment also plays a role, because the organization could choose to change the environment and conduct business in a different regulatory jurisdiction.

Earlier when I talked about observation being different from reality, I discussed the concept of the resultant force—a single force that represents the sum of all forces. The same concept applies here. Think of all forces as having four dimensions.

Whenever you observe a particular force, make sure you understand it in the context of all four dimensions:

When you observe a particular change, ask, “How are the Four Forces driving this change?”

Now that you have your “force detector” turned on and the antenna up, make a habit of looking for all four dimensions. At least once a day, perform the exercise of picking someone, whether it is someone in your customer base, or a random person in a public space, and try to imagine the Four Forces that person feels in that moment. Then, strike up a conversation and see if you can validate your guesses—you may find you were completely wrong! Remember, what you see on the outside may not be what is inside.

Understand specific changes and forces in the context of all four dimensions. Always validate your understanding with the customer. Remember, people’s perception of the forces around them changes constantly..