Framework

Lewin's three-step model

The question it answers

When leaders set out to change how their organisation works, how do they unfreeze old habits, make the move, and refreeze the new way so it does not slip back?

Origin
Lewin, 1947; Cummings et al., 2016
Diagram type
Process by phase
Level of analysis
Firm
Topics
Change management
Clay steps with a looping glass arrow, icon for change management

Diagram

Lewin's three-step model

  1. Three steps
  2. UnfreezeChallenge the status quo and explain why change is needed.
  3. Change (move)Carry out the change, involve people and make the personal benefits clear.
  4. RefreezeBuild the new behaviour into routines and sustain it with feedback and reward.

Sources

References

Listed A–Z by author surname, Harvard style. A source with a DOI links to https://doi.org/…; one without links to its page or says plainly that it has no DOI.

  1. Cummings, S., Bridgman, T. and Brown, K.G. (2016) ‘Unfreezing change as three steps: rethinking Kurt Lewin's legacy for change management’, Human Relations, 69(1), pp. 33–60.doi:10.1177/0018726715577707Source page
  2. Lewin, K. (1947) ‘Frontiers in group dynamics’, Human Relations, 1(1), pp. 5–41.doi:10.1177/001872674700100103Source page