Unfreezing change as three steps

Rethinking Kurt Lewin's legacy for change management

Datos Bibliográficos

ID5773409
AutoresCumming (0000-0001-5298-2075, Victoria University of Wellington, autor de correspondencia), Stephen Cummings (0000-0001-6243-8786, Victoria University of Wellington), Todd Bridgman (0000-0003-3120-0075, Victoria University of Wellington, autor de correspondencia), Katy Gray Brown (0000-0001-9428-9420, University of Iowa, autor de correspondencia), Kenneth G Brown (University of Iowa)
Año2015
Volumen69
Número1
Páginas33-60
Fecha de publicación2015-09-30
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaHuman Relations (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0018-7267 • E-ISSN: 1741-282X
EditorialSAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/0018726715577707
OpenAlexW2293894740
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas46
Referencias citadas92

Kurt Lewin's 'changing as three steps' (unfreezing → changing → refreezing) is regarded by many as the classic or fundamental approach to managing change. Lewin has been criticized by scholars for over-simplifying the change process and has been defended by others against such charges. However, what has remained unquestioned is the model's foundational significance. It is sometimes traced (if it is traced at all) to the first article ever published in Human Relations. Based on a comparison of what Lewin wrote about changing as three steps with how this is presented in later works, we argue that he never developed such a model and it took form after his death. We investigate how and why 'changing as three steps' came to be understood as the foundation of the fledgling subfield of change management and to influence change theory and practice to this day, and how questioning this supposed foundation can encourage innovation

Change Management · Foundation (evidence · Theory of change · Management and Organizational Studies · Organizational Change and Leadership · Organizational Learning and Leadership