Kurt Lewin – ‘Field Theory Rule’

Each article demonstrates Kurt Lewin’s continuing relevance today by using examples from both the archive and from more recent projects. This second instalment in the series addresses Lewin’s ‘field theory rule’.

Introduction to Series

A single orientation to organisational change and consulting limits leaders, managers and consultants as they respond to contemporary pressures on real life organisations. The Tavistock Institute stands for matching the unique, practical issues of a particular sector or organisation with approaches that apply an integration of the social sciences. We emphasize principles that can guide action as the specifics evolve and the actors change.

Some notions central to the Institute’s ‘house style’ can be traced back to our early decades when founding staff members were influenced significantly by the work of Kurt Lewin [See ‘Kurt Lewin at the Tavistock Institute’. This series of articles summarises four such principles and illustrates them with an example from the archives and from a more recent project. The four, inter-related principles are:

1. Dynamic approach

2. Field theory

3. Contemporaneity

4. Constructive method