Action is a lack of balance.
—James A. Baldwin

As we discussed in Section 3, Force Field Analysis, every force has an opposing force, which Lewin called a “restraining” force, or “resisting” force. Lewin said that a person is in equilibrium if the driving and restraining forces are equal, and the person would be in motion if the driving force is larger than the restraining force. In other words, change happens when driving forces outweigh opposing (restraining) forces. The figure on the opposite page illustrates the concept of the Scales of Change.
If the equilibrium is disturbed and the driving forces outweigh resisting forces, the scale will tip and change will occur. It is interesting to note that only a small additional amount may tip the scale.

It is also important to note that when many people think of force field analysis, they think of the Scales of Change, represented by the simple equation:

f{driving forces}≥f{resisting forces}

However, in the Change Leadership Framework, force field analysis refers to the process of independently assessing the forces on each side of the scale—the Four Forces.

Driving & Resisting Forces= f{Needs,Behaviors,Strategies,Environment}

Therefore, in the Change Leadership Framework, the power analysis discipline is where we compare the results of the force field analysis, weighing driving forces versus resisting forces.

The first step in assessing the effort required to make a change is to perform a thorough force field analysis of the driving and resisting forces. A minimum force field analysis identifies at least 1 force in each of the Four Forces dimensions for both the drivers and resistors, for a minimum of 4 driving forces and 4 resisting forces. A thorough analysis would identify 3 to 5 forces in each of the Four Forces dimensions, for a total of 12 to 20 driving forces and 12 to 20 resisting forces. You will find that brainstorming 20 forces is actually fairly easy. You will also find that you will discover valuable new insights into the situation when you do this.

The next step is to assess the effort associated with each force. For example, if one of the resisting forces is some kind of habitual behavior, you would estimate the effort required to manage the behavior and its collateral costs. To weigh the efforts on each side of the scale, you will need apples-to-apples comparisons of the various efforts. Either convert all the estimates to a common unit of measure, such as “person-months per month,” or use a scale from, say, 1 to 5, to assess the relative efforts.

Perform a more thorough force field analysis to increase the accuracy of the power analysis. Be sure to use apples-to-apples comparisons. Remember that the quantities are not as important as the insights gained by performing the analysis.